Dagger Desire
by esmid001
Summary: Alys and Selendrile's relationship strains and grows as they search for a magical dagger in the town of Lythe. Takes place a couple of years after the ending of Dragon's Bait.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first ever fanfic. Reviews are appreciated but please be kind!

Disclaimer: Dragon's Bait and its characters belong to VVV. I do not own them.

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The sun glistened and danced on the lake. Alys laid back resting on her elbows, taking in the heat on an unseasonably warm day. There wouldn't be many more days like this before the cool winds of autumn would chill the air.

She let out a sigh and threw her head back in contentment. She noticed her brown hair brushing against her resting elbows. _Finally getting some length back. _She had hated the awful boy haircut Selendrile had given her a couple of years ago and she was pleased to finally feel like it was long enough to be distinctly feminine.

Her hair wasn't the only thing that had grown. Her body had matured, most notably gaining a little more volume along her hips and breasts. She looked down to admire her own bosom and feeling a little proud. _I might as well admire them if no one else is going to. _She knew men had begun to admire her new curves, even Selendrile had made note once. 'Suppose we won't be able to pass you off as a boy anymore,' he had said, looking directly at her breasts as she leaned over him to reach for a book. No one had ever made any effort to court though. She let out another loud sigh, she dropped her elbows and lay down against the cool grass.

"Oh my. It really is quite hot out here." She said to herself, knowing she wasn't really alone.

She heard a grunt come from some trees behind her.

"Selendrile," she called towards the trees, "I think I'm going to go for a swim to cool off. Care to join me?"

A large golden dragon peeked through the trees at her like an excited puppy. She giggled knowing he couldn't resist a chance to take a swim.

Alys had traveled with the dragon youth for a couple of years now. In that short time she came to know him better than she had ever known anyone (other than her father maybe). She felt she knew Selendrile even better than she had known her childhood friend Risa. Alys had felt a little guilty about this at first, but decided it wasn't a fair comparison since Risa was taken from her too soon.

Before she had gotten to her feet, the golden dragon had slid into the water. "Silly dragon."

She stood by the side of the lake and dipped in her toe. _Oh, it's cold! _She hesitated walking in, still enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin. The warmth was washed away when she was suddenly splashed with frigid water.

"Selendrile!" She screeched.

The dragon let out a grunt that Alys understood as a laugh. He sunk below the surface of the water, using his wings as fins, making a quick escape. She watched his golden form glide away, leaving a trail of wake with his tail.

"Stupid dragon." She lowered herself into the water, slowly becoming acclimated to the cool temperature. She waded out to the center of the lake, turned to float on her back and closed her eyes.

Her thoughts drifted. Selendrile was no longer a ruthless dragon, obsessed with revenge. They now enjoyed each other's company and cared for one another. He still became annoyed occasionally by her persistent pestering and inconvenient human needs, but he enjoyed teasing her over such things. Alys appreciated how well he took care of her, making sure she always felt safe and was fed. He had even taught her to read! She couldn't ask for more, though she had come to wish that he cared for her in more than a friendly way. Her dreams were often clouded with him in his attractive human form. She sighed to pull herself away from daydreaming.

A dark shadow blocked the sunlight from reaching her face. She popped an eye open to see a dragon head looming over her. She quickly splashed at him in retaliation for earlier. They played together in the water until her fingers began to prune.

She drug herself in her heavy dress onto the bank and collapsed from exhaustion. The sun would be going down within the hour and she wanted to dry off before returning the the abandoned cottage that they were calling home (for now).

"Probably a good time for you to go find yourself some dinner. I'm just going to dry off here for a while. Come get me once the sun goes down?" She asked not even bothering to pick up her head and look to see if Selendrile was listening. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

- Just a note: This is my first ever fanfic. Please be kind but feel free to write me a review! Thanks for reading! -

"Well, you're dry. Though, I can remedy that," she heard Selendrile tease, waking her from her nap.

Alys got up to go meet up with her waiting companion. "How was dinner?"

"Better than that stew we had to stomach at that last inn we stayed at."

She couldn't help but giggle remembering Selendrile's beautiful pale skin turn a slight shade of green after eating a bite of said stew.

"Yes! It was awful, even for someone like me who prefers her meals cooked. I was worried you were changing into a frog right in the middle of the tavern!"

They laughed walking down the trail back to the cottage. Their hands were linked and swinging carelessly through the air. It had become totally dark now that the sun had sunk far below the mountains but the moon shone bright enough to light their path. Alys looked up at the stars and sighed. She loved days like today. She felt like a child again.

Without warning, she was jerked back by Selendrile. A low growl escaped his lips. A figure stood just before them on the path. Alys wouldn't have been concerned, but it was unlike him to be caught off guard.

"Hello there lovelies! Don't be afraid, as I mean you no harm." A hunched, elderly woman said as she toddled towards them.

Alys recognized right away that she was a witch. Selendrile of course had no trouble coming to this conclusion as well.

"Oh my, what a lovely young couple you are. Such interesting eyes you have young man." She said to Selendrile with a wink. She obviously knew he was fey. "And you my dear! Such a pretty girl."

"Thank you," Alys responded nervously, but not wanting to be rude.

"Alys." Selendrile could tell the witch wanted something. He thought it wise to keep Alys away from her. "Alys go back to the cabin. Can you find your way on your own?"

"Of course, but Selendrile -" she began to protest. He couldn't MAKE her leave. She was curious about what the witch.

"Alys." He said curtly. "Alys, please will you go back to the cabin? I will be there shortly."

She sighed knowing she wouldn't win this. "Fine," she said in defeat. She walked carefully past the old woman, bowing her head as she passed to say goodbye.

Selendrile and the witch stood motionlessly for a few minutes, waiting for Alys to be far enough away.

"She's a stubborn human, isn't she?" the witch chuckled. "Though, to be in the company of a dragon I suppose she needs to have some fire in her!"

Selendrile narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you want?"

"Oh, well I think the question is what do YOU want? You see, I saw you and your human friend down by the lake today. Doesn't take an old witch long to see the way you feel about her. I almost couldn't believe it at first! A dragon in love with a human! How strange! How tragic." She said shaking her head sorrowfully.

Selendrile's brows furrowed. He hadn't noticed the witch by the lake and this frustrated him. He had been engrossed in watching Alys and he must had missed the signs that they were being watched.

"In my old age, I usually don't meddle in love anymore, often too messy... Your situation is so unique though! I thought I might share some information that may interest you."

"What kind of information?" Selendrile asked curiously.

"I know of an enchanted dagger that was created just your situation. It has the power to change fey into human."

Selendrile's eyes widen with interest.

"Yes, I tell you the truth, dragon youth. It was created long ago, for a faerie who was in love with a human, I believe. It looks like any other dagger except that engraved on its holt is a moon on one side and a sun on the other."

The witch could see Selendrile's eyes spark with obsession. He had to have this dagger.

"Where?" He asked abruptly.

"Well...the last I heard, a merchant bought it off a witch I once knew. His son later sold it for nearly nothing to a shop in a town called Lythe."

Selendrile nodded in comprehension.

"I must warn you. This kind of powerful magic doesn't come without sacrifice," she informed, shaking her boney finger towards him. "You must cover the blade with the blood of your love and then use it to spill a small amount of your own. Also, you will never be able to become a dragon again. The change it permanent. Be sure it is what you both want."

Selendrile nodded again. "So what do **you** want for sharing this information?"

"Want?" the witch cackled. "Why nothing dear! It would be a miracle for your relationship with that young girl to work. Don't lose hope though."

Selendrile was distracted briefly by a herd of deer crossing the path behind him. By the time he turned back, the witch had vanished.

His mind swarmed with the information he had been gifted. He couldn't help but laugh though when he saw Alys pacing outside, waiting for him to return.

"That was a witch, wasn't it?" She stated excitedly. Alys followed him inside like an animated child.

"Yes," was all Selendrile replied as he went over to the fireplace to start a fire.

"Well, what did she want?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Alys asked disbelievingly.

"Yes. She just shared some information is all." Selendrile responded slightly annoyed.

He went to sit in a chair after seeing the fire roar to life.

"What information?"

Selendrile groaned and sat back in his chair. She was always so curious. He wasn't ready to tell her about the dagger. "Nothing you need to be concerned about."

"Arg," she growled exasperated. "This is why I didn't want to go back to the cabin. You never tell me anything!" She grabbed a book she had bought in the last town they had visited and sat down begrudgingly to read by the fire.

Selendrile couldn't help but smirk at her. "What are you reading?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"A book."

Selendrile chuckled. _She is going to be like that is she. _"I see that Alys. What is your book about?"

She sighed. "Knitting."

"Knitting? Why would anyone want to learn about knitting?"

"I don't know. To learn how to knit things maybe?" She rolled her eyes at him. _And he claims I ask too many questions._

"Things like what?"

"I don't know Selendrile, things like mittens, scarves, baby blankets. Things like that."

"Baby blankets?" He tilted his head and paused. "Do you want to have children?"

She blushed at the question, but tried not to let Selendrile see so he couldn't tease her about it later. She paused to think about the question. "Yes." She finally responded. "Yes, I think I would like to have children, someday at least."

"Oh," was all he said in response.

Some time later Selendrile spoke up again. "She told me about something that I might be interested in finding."

"Huh?" Alys asked puzzled.

"The witch."

"Oh. What did she think you'd be interested in finding?"

"A magic dagger. I will probably be gone the next couple of days to see if I can locate the town she said it was known to be in last."

"Magic dagger? What does it do?" Alys asked perplexed.

Selendrile wasn't interested in giving her anymore information so he just shrugged his shoulders.

Alys sighed knowing she would get no more information out of him tonight. She put her book down, grabbed a blanket and headed over to her cot by the fire. "I'm going to bed. Be careful while you are away and don't be gone more than three days or I'll worry."

He gave her a smirk. "Yes, mother."


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry if this chapter is a little off. I'm not a writer (I'm actually a visual artist by profession) so excuse my scattered story telling! Please review! Gives me a reason to continue!_

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_That was easy enough. _Selendrile was pleased he had managed to find the town called Lythe on only his second day away. He would be back to Alys a couple of hours after nightfall.

Lythe was a large town, less than a day away from the cottage if they flew. Selendrile thought about how Alys would have plenty to entertain herself with during the day. On the other hand, he would have a much harder time finding a small dagger hidden in such a large place. They might be staying there longer than he'd like. He sighed, smoke billowing through his dragon nostrils, leaving a small cloud trail.

Being forced to stay in town for long could be difficult and even dangerous. He would have to be careful about his hunting and their story would need to be solid to keep them from being discovered. They would probably go with their brother and sister story once again. Though, the inevitable town women's flirtatious attention annoyed him; it was easier for him to get information as a bachelor than it was for him as a married man (especially from the women). Selendrile inwardly groaned.

He hated pretending to be Alys' devoted brother because it also allowed men to believe Alys was available. Selendrile thought about all the men eyeing Alys with desire within the past year. There would certainly be at least a few more when they went to Lythe and they would be in town long enough for some to actually pursue her. Selendrile let out a growl at the thought and then a sigh. _Well, why shouldn't a man pursue her? _She is beautiful, smart, witty, of age and unmarried. Selendrile had no claim on her and if she fell in love with a suitor, he knew he'd let her go. His thoughts immediately went back to the enchanted dagger that had the power to turn him human. It was really his only hope to stay with her.

_Did she want to stay with me though?_ Selendrile knew she had no one else and he took good care of her. He had never admitted to having any feelings towards her other than the obvious friendship they shared. He had seen the way she stared at him, but always discounted it as her desire for some kind of male contact, not necessarily just for him. Rejection wasn't something a dragon took well.

_And do I really want to give up my life as a dragon to become a simple human? Do I even REALLY love her? _He thought about that for some time. He had strong feelings for her for sure. She made him happy and he enjoyed caring for her. Imagining her in pain caused him pain. The thought of her with another man brought up a fire in him that he had never experienced. _Yes, I do love her. _He would miss being a dragon, the fire in his chest, the ability to fly, eating fresh meat, the extended life span. He could live without all those things, but he couldn't live without Alys.

_I will leave her though, if I must. If I am unable to find the dagger and become human, I will end our companionship. Lythe would be a good town for her to call home._ With his mind made up, Selendrile decided definitively that he would keep his plan from Alys. He would not tell her what the dagger would really do until they found it.

Alys had been relieved when Selendrile returned to the cottage. She was even more relieved when they arrived in Lythe the next evening. It had been a while since they had stayed in a large town and Alys couldn't help but feel excited. They went to check into an inn that was close to the town's edge, near the forest. The inn was pleasant enough. The floors were clean, the tavern in the main hall looked to have a decent crowd but not uncomfortably so. Alys took this as a sign that the food was probably decent. They were greeted kindly by a short pudgy woman with pink cheeks and a sweet smile.

"Welcome visitors! You will be staying with us? Excellent! Let me fetch my husband," she bubbled. The innkeeper was just as pudgy and friendly as his wife. Selendrile gave the innkeeper and his wife their brother and sister story.

"My sister and I would like two rooms. I have business in this town and in a nearby village and will be gone throughout the day. My sister will be staying in town though."

"Oh, well the young lady will have no trouble keeping herself entertained her in Lythe! Much to do!" The innkeeper beamed with town pride.

Selendrile continued. "I'm afraid we will be staying here for quite some time. Will that be a problem?"

"If you can pay sir, then you and your sister may stay as long as you like!" The man chuckled merrily.

_Ugh, brother and sister again? _Alys inwardly groaned. She knew that it was the safest and easiest story for them to tell, but she disliked pretending to be his sister when she'd rather pretend to be his wife.

The innkeepers wife offered them both dinner. Selendrile politely declined but told Alys to go eat while he finished speaking with the innkeeper and paying for their rooms.

She happily went to the tavern to enjoy the tasty meal the pudgy wife brought to her.

As Alys ate, she thought back to a few months ago when Selendrile had left it to her to make their arrangements at an inn...

Selendrile had walked her inside but explained he needed to go grab a snack for the night and gave Alys the money she needed to procure their rooms for the night. She saw the hungry look the young maid had given Selendrile as soon as they had walked inside. That may have been why she claimed that Selendrile was her newly wed husband and that they were on their honeymoon. They were only planning on staying the night, so Alys had decided that they wouldn't have to put much effort into their story. Selendrile would not have even known that she had strayed from their usual brother-sister story, being that sometimes they had to share a room, if it hadn't been for that damned jealous maid.

'Congratulations sir.' The wench had said dryly to Selendrile once he returned to the inn. 'Enjoy your honeymoon night, but please be aware my quarters are just below your room,' she grumbled to Alys, easily in earshot of Selendrile.

Selendrile just raised his brows in surprise at Alys and smiled. He looked the maid in the eye, said 'thank you' politely, wrapped his arms around Alys and planted a kiss on her lips. Alys tried to hide her shocked look but was unable to hide her blush.

Selendrile smirked at her wickedly, "Let's get to the room, love."

Alys just turned to face the red faced maid and gave her a huge smile. _That shut her up. _ The teasing Selendrile had tormented her with in the next few weeks had been worth it.

"Alys_." _Selendrile called pulling her back to the present. "If you are done, we can go to our rooms now and I will tuck you in for the night," he said as an over-convincingly caring brother.

Alys mentally rolled her eyes and gagged as the innkeepers wife gave Selendrile sweet words an audible "awe" as they walked up to the room together. She was happy to see that while the room was by no means fancy, it was clean and the bed looked warm. The moon shone through the window, spotlighting the bed, drawing Alys to it. She gladly sat down and took note of how cushiony it was.

Selendrile dropped her sack of belongings on the floor with a loud thud. She only carried a few necessities, trinkets and dresses, but her hoard of books caused the bag to be a heavy load. Selendrile wouldn't always be available or willing to lug it around for her. She would need to sell some of the books she had already read if she wanted to buy new ones.

"So, what is the plan?" Alys asked with a yawn. Her body had become used to staying up late into the night and sleeping when there were only a few hours left 'till morning, but traveling always exhausted her more than usual.

"We look for the dagger."

"You said it has a moon and sun on its handle?" Alys confirmed.

Selendrile nodded. "Explore the town tomorrow. Take note of any shops that might buy or sell a dagger. There might be many places in such a large town."

Alys nodded this time, accepting her assignment. "Will you be in the woods tomorrow?"

"Probably." Selendrile said sounding bored.

Alys let out another yawn. "Be careful then, dear brother." She teased while curling up into the comfortable bed.

"Goodnight, sister dear." Selendrile said leaving the room. She could hear the smirk on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

The meadow was cool and the mist felt like expensive silk on her skin. She had never seen a place look so mystical and peaceful. The sun was about to rise over the horizon, allowing amber light to brush the sky and cast an orange glow on the heavy mist that went from her fingertips down towards her toes. She saw a familiar form across the grassy field.

"Selendrile?" she called. He turned to face her, his expression dead. "Selendrile?" she called again more urgently, concerned. Before she could reach him, the sunlight shone above the horizon and he burst into his dragon form, flying away from her without even a glance back. She screamed his name now, "Selendrile, come back!" As the golden dragon disappeared into the light of the sun, somehow she knew he was gone forever. "Don't leave me," was all she could whisper, dropping to her knees into the cool mist.

"Foolish girl," a voice called Alys' attention from behind. Alys turned to see the witch from the trail standing behind her. She continued, "you can't stay with a dragon!"

"No," Alys protested, "Selendrile and I are friends. He is all I have. He would never leave me!" Her voice grew from a quiet whisper to a shout.

"Dragons are solitary creatures, they don't have FRIENDS. He's gone and he isn't going to return. You are alone." The witch turned to walk away, letting her words linger in the mist.

"You're wrong!" Alys screamed chasing after the witch. "Selendrile cares about me. He won't leave me." Desperation dripped from her words, she needed the witch to believe Selendrile will return for her.

The witch turned, giving Alys a sad smile. "He cares for you, my dear." Alys began feel relief flush through her before the witch continued. "Though, why did he use your real names in this town?"

Alys' eyes flashed open. She was no longer in a misty meadow with the witch but alone in her room at the inn. It had been a dream. Selendrile had not left her and she was not alone in the world. She sighed, relieved though she knew she would not be completely comforted until she met with Selendrile that night.

She thought about the question the witch had presented before she awoke. Selendrile HAD checked them into the inn using their real names! She had been so distracted by her disgust at portraying his sister and her memories of pretending to be his wife that she hadn't even noticed that he didn't give the innkeeper false names like usual. Alys pushed aside her growing suspicion that he would be leaving her. With a little more effort she pushed the nightmare out of her mind too and chose to instead focus on her task of looking for shops that might posses a magical dagger.

The lovely innkeeper's wife had saved Alys some bread from the morning meal she missed, she nibbled at it while walking through town. Alys had thanked her graciously and felt a small twinge of guilt that she did not know her or her husband's names.

The town had many shops and there were people bustling from place to place, in a hurry to get to where they needed to be. She couldn't help but think of how different this busy town was from the small and slow paced St. Toby's. Her thoughts wandered to her hometown and she began to daydream about what life could have been like for her there if she hadn't been accused of being a witch.

Her father would still have died not long from when he had. She would miss him terribly like she does now, but if she had stayed in town she would have been able to properly mourn his death. She probably would have taken over the tin shop, despite people's disapproval of a woman working a shop alone. She would have been married by now to some boy in the village. Maybe she would even be a mother. She frowned to herself, unsure if she would have been unhappy with such a mundane life or if the security of a family and a home would have made her happier than she was now.

She sighed and began to make note of certain shops that looked like promising targets for a dagger hunt. She weaved in and out of the shops, hoping to maybe be lucky enough to come upon the dagger on her own. While she found some promising places, she hadn't seen anything that resembled the magical dagger. Finally, in the late afternoon, she came across a shop on the opposite side of town from the inn. Alys walked inside and stopped stunned in the doorway. The shop was covered from floor to ceiling with anything and everything. As she stood awestruck, a man popped in from a back room to welcome her.

"Afternoon! What - oh, hello there, can I help you?" said a tall, broad shouldered man with wavy brown hair and soft brown eyes. He gave Alys a winning smile.

"No, I'm just browsing," Alys responded while taking in the full walls and shelves of books and bottles. "What exactly do you sell here?..."

"My name's Lanin," he said taking her hand and giving a slight bow, causing Alys to blush. "I'm the owner of this shop and we sell pretty much everything. From simple things like wool blankets and tin cups to rare and strange oddities like exotic furs and plants, potions, and one of a kind treasures."

"I see," was all Alys could respond with, still taken aback by all that the store had to offer.

The shop owner, Lanin, chuckled "I know it's a lot to take in. It was my father's shop before he passed and left it to me, he wasn't much into organization. I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh sorry, I'm Alys," she gave him a smile, feeling a small connection with him knowing that he also had lost his father. He continued to stare at her but her eyes caught sight of a large number of books and couldn't bother to turn her attention back to him.

He followed after her and noticed her eyes were scanning the books with excitement. "Oh, you like books? We have them on everything you can think of! Are you interested in a particular subject?"

"No, my brother taught me to read and I usually just read books about cooking, crafts, and such..." She let her voice trail and her hands began pulling out books one by one to look at their covers. Her hand fell upon a beautiful deep blue, cloth covered book with gold lettering, 'A Guide to the World of Fey.' Pulling it out carefully, she began to flip through its delicate pages. It was by far the most beautiful book she had ever seen, including the special ones Selendrile kept in his hoard, it had several pages of beautiful drawings of magical creatures. Her hand stopped suddenly when it came upon a page with a beautiful image of a silver colored dragon, she caressed the page gently as she took in the beautiful image.

"That book isn't for sale," came a harsh voice from the back of the store. A large red haired man came forward and took the book right from Alys' hand. She stood surprised, wanting the book back in her hands but glad she didn't try to hold onto it in case that it may have ripped one of its precious pages.

"Marlin!" Lanin warned. "You work for me, remember? You don't get to decide what's for sale and what isn't."

"Don't push me, Lanin. My father contributed his priceless knowledge to the writer of that book and I won't see it leave this store in the hands of some simple wench." The red haired man sneered, narrowing his eyes at Alys.

"Marlin!" Lanin shouted, trying to gain control of his employee.

"Excuse me?" Alys asked angrily, interrupting Lanin's attempt to defend her to do it herself. "This isn't your shop, I have 5 silver coins to pay for the book, now please return it to me." She tried to keep her rage under control and ask the grisly man as nicely as possible.

"I wouldn't sell this book to some WOMAN for all the gold in Lythe." Marlin snarled.

"It is not your choice Marlin! You can't speak to customers that way. Now leave the book and get out. You're fired." Lanin pointed towards the door and gave Marlin a look of disgust.

"You're firing me?!" Marlin shouted, now irate, causing Alys to flinch back and Lanin to place his hands protectively on her shoulders. Marlin continued his tirade. "You're firing me over this whore? You and your father are just alike, ready to give anything to some pretty face hoping to get in bed with them!" The man threw the book to the floor and stomped out of the store, turning at the last moment, "You'll regret this! I will promise you that!"

After the commotion was over, Alys went over to the book, lifted it off the floor and wiped away the dirt from its cover. "I'm so sorry. I - I didn't mean to start anything." She stuttered.

Lanin let out a nervous laugh and smiled. "No, no Alys, don't worry about it. I have been wanting to get rid of him since I took over the shop a few years ago. As you saw, he is a hot head and doesn't have the greatest personality."

Alys reached into her coin purse and pulled out 7 silver coins and handed them to Lanin. "I know it is more than I said I'd pay for the book, but it's the least I can do for causing such trouble for you." She pulled the book to her chest and started to head for the door.

"Alys," Lanin stopped her, "feel free to stop in again." His voice sounded hopeful.

She gave him a smile and left to return to the inn with her new book. Guilt began to eat at her as she walked along the shadowed streets. She had gotten a man fired over a silly book about fey. Not too mention she had spent 7 of Selendrile's silver coins on said book. She knew Selendrile wouldn't care about the coins, but for a once poor tinsmith's daughter, it was too much. Once she reached the inn she sat down at a table at the tavern to thumb threw her new treasure that she had fought so hard to get.

The images in the book were worth the silver coins alone. The drawings of the faeries danced off the page, the trolls looked so grotesque that she couldn't look at them for long, and the dragons...they were as close to the real thing as they could come (her only real comparison being Selendrile though). Unfortunately, the book's information was less amazing. She flipped past all the other creatures of fey to see what the book could offer her on dragons and her companion. Disappointingly, the information it contained for the most part was of things she was already aware of or she knew were completely false. Her heart skipped a beat though when she saw a small part about iron being a dragon's weakness and how iron materials could be forged to capture or kill a dragon. She immediately ripped out the page, walked it over to the communal fireplace and watched it burn. Sitting back into her seat she felt like in a tiny way she helped save Selendrile or at least one of his kind from being hurt or killed.

Alys continued to browse through the book while eating her dinner, disappointed that it didn't contain any information about a magical dagger. She began to get strange looks around the tavern, forgetting that it wasn't common for someone of her status or gender to be able to read or even afford a book. The room was far more comfortable than the tavern, so she decided to wait for Selendrile's return there.

She had a lot to ask and tell him and was growing anxious if she should mention her nightmare about the witch. It wasn't uncommon for her to have nightmares and share them with Selendrile. In fact, she had had them almost every night for the first few months they traveled together. Selendrile had become concerned for her health when he noticed how little sleep she was getting and pressured her to share the dreams. Sharing seemed to help and the number of her nightmares dropped drastically from then on. She still had them on occasion, most about Atherton's death, St. Toby's burning into ashes, or her being burned at the stake. Selendrile did appear in them from time to time as well, but unless it was really disturbing, she didn't like to tell him about those dreams. Once, she told him that she dreamt he ate her father and then burned the villagers of St. Toby's alive. While she felt better after sharing her nightmare with him, she could tell he was upset to be the subject of one of her nightmares. He had been especially curious about her dreams for weeks after that, his eyes remained dark whenever he asked. Making it a point from then on, she kept any dreams about Selendrile to herself.

Selendrile flew as a raven through her window about an hour after dark. "So, how was your day?" he asked after transforming, casually dressing into the extra clothes Alys keeps for him. Alys averted her eyes, as usual, while he changed. After a couple of years together, she has learned to not bother asking him to be more modest and just to do her best not to look when he changed. Shamefully, she has snuck a peek or two at him before, but she knows he doesn't always turn his attention away when she changes either, so she counts it as retaliation.

Alys went on to tell him about her day, giving him the shop locations that she thought were promising targets, but she stopped when she saw Selendrile's eyes spot her blue book. She began to explain. "There was this shop in the back of town that was full of everything. I saw this book about fey and had to have it, but I had to fight for it a bit. Actually, I kind of got a man fired over it."

"So much for keeping a low profile," he grumbled.

"That's not fair! The man was awful, he wouldn't sell me the book because I was a woman. He insulted me and the shop owner, so he got fired." Alys protested the glare Selendrile was giving her.

Selendrile just frowned, "Well I hope you are prepared to get rid of some of your other books to keep that big thing." He sighed, mimicking Alys, "Either way, I will go break into some of the shops tonight to see if I can find the dagger."

"What does the dagger DO anyway?" Alys asked, still slightly annoyed that Selendrile didn't understand her frustration about being denied something because she was a woman.

Selendrile paused for a moment and kept his eyes on the floor instead of looking at Alys. "It is just suppose to posses magic that can make me stronger. It will be a nice addition to my collection of treasures." His eyes were hidden, but she could tell after all the time they had spent together, that he was lying to her. He wouldn't be honest with her even if she asked, so she didn't bother. She let out a heavy sigh and yawned.

"You look tired Alys. Did you not sleep well last night?" Selendrile asked suspiciously. His purple sparked with concern though the expression on his face remained unfazed.

She paused, wondering one last time if she should tell Selendrile of her nightmare of the witch. It was embarrassing that she was so devastated to lose Selendrile in the dream, she decided not to bring up that part up. "I dreamt of that witch, the one that told you about the dagger." Alys paused, seeing Selendrile's eyes widen slightly. "She asked me why you used our real names in this town and I am wondering that myself..."

Selendrile's strong jaw tightened, "I just thought it'd be easier since we may be here for a while." He gave her a shrug.

He was lying again. Alys started to become angry that he was hiding things from her and her heart ached a little that he didn't trust her even after all the time. _Maybe he is going to leave me. _She turned to her bed and curled up under the covers, giving Selendrile the cold shoulder. "Well, obviously I look tired, so I guess I better get to sleep. You should go check out those shops."

Selendrile noticed the anger in her voice, but trying to talk to her anymore would only lead to an argument. "Night Alys," was all he said before undressing and turning back into a raven, flying out her window.

Alys had a restless sleep that night and wished she had just come out and asked Selendrile if he was planning on leaving her.


	5. Chapter 5

Alys was slow to get up the next morning, causing her to miss breakfast yet again. The innkeeper's wife was a Godsend, saving her bread and cheese for when she did finally come out of her room.

"I'm not a morning person either," she winked at Alys.

Thanking her, she returned to her room to go through her collection of books. While she didn't find the blue book on fey all that informative, the images would be a great deal of joy for her in times of boredom. She selected two books on weaving, something she never really saw herself getting into, and decided to go back to Lanin's shop to see if she could sell them. Alys was also curious to see how Lanin was fairing without his hot headed employee.

The streets were busy with people and Alys couldn't help but wonder where Selendrile was, imagining him amongst the crowd. She knew he was likely just hunting in the woods outside of town and was disappointed in herself for thinking of Selendrile as just any other human and remembering that he wasn't even in town. She tried to keep her mind on the tasks at hand, looking for the dagger and selling her books.

As she entered Lanin's shop she was greeted cheerfully. "Alys, you came back!" He beamed.

"Hi," she smiled, a little surprised he was so happy to see her. "I came to see how you were fairing and to see if you'd be interested in buying these books?" She said holding the books up for him to see.

"Of course. Always looking for some more books. How much were you hoping to get for them?"

By the tone and friendliness of his voice, Alys knew she could ask for more than the books were worth and he'd gladly buy them from her, but she still felt guilty for the commotion she had caused last time and decided she didn't want anything for them. "I actually just need to get rid of them. I'd appreciate you just taking them off my hands."

"Oh, yeah sure." Lanin smiled and walked over to literally take the books from her hands.

"So are you doing well? I mean, being down a hand?" She nervously asked while browsing through I pile of stuff.

Chuckling, "Ya...I'm doing alright. It is going to take me even longer to sort through all the mess in the back, but I will manage."

Alys was struck with an idea, "Well I don't really have much to do for the rest of the day...maybe I could help you sort through things?" She offered because it would give her a chance to look in the shop's crowded back room for the dagger but also give her an afternoon of PLEASANT conversation, something she hadn't had in a long time.

Lanin was thrilled with the idea of having Alys for the day and quickly agreed. Alys spent the next few hours sorting through crates and bags, finding all sorts of strange things but still no sign of the dagger. While the dagger hunt was proving to be unsuccessful, she was enjoying talking with Lanin nonetheless. Lanin had a similar life to Alys's before she had met Selendrile and she felt close to him after hearing about his past.

His father had been a traveling merchant that fell in love with a woman in Lythe, Lanin's mother, so he decided to open a shop in town and marry her. The shop did well being that travelers pass through regularly, but when his mother died, his father went back to traveling. Lanin was old enough to look after the shop while his father was gone for days at a time and when he returned he would always bring back the most interesting things with the best stories to tell. He had become ill after an especially long journey and died a few years ago, leaving Lanin to take charge of the shop.

Lanin had asked Alys for her story and she actually had to stop herself from telling him the truth. Instead, she lied, saying her parents died in a fire, years back and her successful older brother brought her along with him while he traveled for business. She left out any details, but Lanin seemed to swallow her story.

"Your brother must be quite a man to care for you so well. I'm sure he has his hands full with men asking to court you where ever you go!" Lanin smirked, moving a now sorted crate of bottles to the other side of the room.

Alys couldn't help but giggle uncomfortably, "He IS quite the man, but lucky for him, no one has come to him to court me."

Lanin shot her his most dazzling smile, "Yet."

Blushing profusely, she changed the subject before she turned into a tomato. "So how did someone as awful as that Marlin fellow come to work for you?"

"He was hired by my father, to kind of be the muscle around the shop. I've never liked him, but he does have some interesting stories, being that his father was a dragon hunter and all." Lanin shrugged.

"Dragon hunter!" Alys said loudly, nearly shouting.

Lanin gave her a sly smile, seeing the surprise and interest on her face. "Yeah, his father hunted dragons and would come to the shop to sell some of his spoils. I think there is a dragon tooth around here somewhere..." He began to look through a crate, but gave up quickly and continued his story of Marlin. "Anyway, his father was what you call an expert on dragons and supposedly taught Marlin everything he knows. Marlin's never left Lythe though, so unless that rumor of a dragon flying near town is true, the information won't be of much use."

"A dragon's been spotted near town?" Alys asked alarmed.

"Oh yeah," Lanin continued mindlessly, "yesterday some farmers claimed to have seen a huge dragon flying towards town. I wouldn't worry about it though, they were probably drunk or seeing things."

"Oh, still - that's a little scary." Alys didn't hide the concern on her face, knowing if he noticed, it would be contrived as concern for her own wellbeing.

"Good thing you bought that book on fey! If Marlin's dad really did give the writer information on dragons then you should be able to find out how to defend yourself." Lanin teased with a soft chuckled.

The burning page about dragon's weakness to iron crossed into Alys' memory and she let a small smile slip onto her lips. "Yes, I suppose I will have to reread that chapter." Alys chuckled back at Lanin.

"Oh wow," Lanin stopped suddenly looking out the door of the back room to the front of the shop, "it's already dark out! The candles back here in a windowless room can really cause you to lose track of time. Time flies when you have good company, I guess."

"It's already dark!? I have to go!" Alys stood up startled. Selendrile would be worried if she didn't get back to the inn soon and she didn't want to be lectured on how she needs to be careful in such a large town after dark. She grabbed her things as quick and she could and ran towards the door.

"Hey!" Lanin called to stop her. "Just let me lock up and I will walk you home. I don't think you should walk home alone in the dark, doubt your brother would like that either."

Alys sighed knowing he was right, Selendrile wouldn't like her walking the streets alone in the dark and she honestly wasn't fond of the idea herself. "Ok, thank you."

Lanin locked the shop door and they walked towards the inn together. Confusingly, Lanin had been very talkative all day, but now he walked next to her in complete silence. Alys was about to start up a conversation to break the awkwardness when Lanin laced his arm around Alys' side. She giggled noticing his blush. They were both uncomfortable, but she enjoyed the contact and decided to lean a little closer to him. It was obvious Lanin liked her and she had to admit, she liked him too. If she had met someone like him before running away with Selendrile, there was a chance she would have gotten married. _Selendrile! _She sighed, he was going to be mad she was late getting back to the inn, not that he ever bothered to be punctual. With the inn in sight, Alys picked up her pace, causing Lanin to pick up his as well.

"Thank you so much for walking me home Lanin," she said turning to him outside the inn's entrance. Lanin's hand moved from around her waist to catch her hand as she turned.

"It was my pleasure Alys. Thank you for being such good company today."

They stood looking at one another for a moment, his hand still holding hers. A light growl was heard behind Alys and she turned to see a golden haired dog with unnatural purple eyes staring at their clasped hands, letting out a low growl. "Shoo dog." Alys growled back, knowing it was Selendrile.

The dog walked off towards the woods, but instead of heading in, stopped and sat to continue to watch Alys and Lanin. Alys rolled her eyes and grumbled, "stupid dog," under her breath. She looked back to Lanin, who looked confused, but his smile returned quickly as he turned back to look at Alys.

"So can I count on you to come back to keep me company tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure, if you can stand me two days in a row," she smiled knowing he would be thrilled to see her again. She was finding that she enjoyed his undivided attention and liked the idea of a man wanting her around. Selendrile usually seemed annoyed when she wanted his attention and while she knew he liked having her around, it wasn't for the same reason Lanin wanted her around.

Lanin bent down and kissed her hand, causing her to blush three shades of red. "Well then, I look forward to tomorrow," he smiled his dazzling smile and left.

Alys opened the door to the inn and watched Lanin walk away. As soon as he was out of sight she turned her attention to the dog sitting at the wood's edge. Once the dog saw that it had gained her attention again, it took off into the forest, leaving Alys to chase after him.

She chased the dog into the woods, but quickly began stumbling over stones and sticks. Dark clouds had rolled overhead and the moon was unable to shine through, if they hadn't been so close to town, there would be no light to see at all. Tripping over a root she became frustrated and yelled, "Stupid dragon! You come to me!" She saw a fallen log and planted herself on it, waiting for Selendrile to come back and find her. She heard some shuffling in the woods behind her, but the dragon youth didn't appear. Darkness didn't usually make her nervous, but the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand. Selendrile appeared from behind a tree a minute later and she sighed relieved to have her dragon companion with her.

Selendrile's naked body leaned against a tree and looked towards Alys. Alys knew he didn't have anything to change into, it was too dark for her to see anything anyway so she didn't even need to avert her eyes. They stayed still and quiet in the darkness for a few minutes before a crash of the coming thunder pushed Alys to move the conversation along.

"I heard today that a dragon was spotted near town," she started.

"Yes," Selendrile sighed, causing Alys to smile smugly, "I came upon some farmers and they saw me before I could land. I will have to be more careful and hunt at night only from now on."

Alys could hear the sullen tone of his voice. "Guess that means lots of afternoon naps for you." She knew if she could see Selendrile better, he was probably glaring at her.

Rain drops started to slowly fall from the clouds onto the leaves of the trees around them, breaking the silence. Selendrile walked over and sat next to Alys on the fallen tree. She tried to forget the fact that he was still naked and instead focused on trying to see his face in the minimal light.

"He likes you," Selendrile said out of the blue.

Alys knew he was talking about Lanin but she was still surprised to hear Selendrile bring him up. "Yes, I think he does."

After another long pause, Selendrile continued, "Do you like him?"

She let out a hard sigh, "He is very nice." She hadn't really answered the question, but she hoped Selendrile hadn't noticed.

"So, you like him then?" Selendrile concluded.

Rolling her eyes, "Yes, I suppose I like him. He is a bit of a flirt but a nice person all the same."

"I see," was all Selendrile responded with, his tone a little somber.

_Is Selendrile jealous of Lanin? _Alys' body was thrown into a fit of giggles at the thought. She imagined Selendrile with an adorable pout and her giggles turned into full blown laughter.

"What's so funny?" Selendrile asked confused but also slightly amused.

"You're jealous, of Lanin, aren't you!"

If Alys could see him more clearly she knew Selendrile's beautiful pale skin would be covered in a rare, but perfect shade of flustered pink. "No, I just don't I like the idea of you walking around holding hands with strangers," he grumbled.

She pulled in her laughter and tried to hide her grin behind a small smirk. Knowing his pride was not something to mess with she decided to only tease him a little further. "Oh, I see, this coming from the strange DRAGON I ran away with. Don't worry Selendrile, you're still my number one guy." She leaned over to give him a playful peck on the cheek.

For some reason, she felt herself linger close to him, unable to pull away. He turned his recently pecked cheek to look at her. Being so close, she managed to see a flecks of purple in his eyes in the dark. Her nose filled with the smell of the coming rain mixed with the campfire like scent of Selendrile. She felt herself leaning closer and suddenly their lips met, his crashing hard against hers. As they kissed, the clouds opened up and rain poured down on them, their mouth's continued searching and feeling one another's. Selendrile lightly nipped at her bottom lip as he pulled away from her.

Alys let out a gasp as they broke apart, her lips slightly swollen from the kiss. The rain continued to pour down onto them as they stared at each other, both dripping wet and a little shocked.

Selendrile and Alys had never kissed like THAT before. They had shared friendly pecks on the cheek, the occasional kiss on the lips for show, but other than the small kiss Alys had given him when he had been bound in iron, they had never kissed for real before. A loud boom of thunder and a crack of lightning distracted them from each other.

"You better get inside to dry off before you catch cold or with your luck, get struck by lightning." Selendrile returned to his usual teasing self.

"Ok, will you come back with me though? I can't really see where I'm going." Alys' voice was soft and a little shaky. Selendrile started walking towards town, stopping when he heard Alys clear her throat. "You might want to change back into a dog or something. We don't want you to be mobbed by all the women in town." She smirked as she reminded him of his nudity.

Selendrile transformed back into the golden dog, his golden fur now darkened and matted by the rain, and walked towards town, not waiting to see if Alys was following. She sighed knowing he wouldn't be pleased to smell like wet dog the rest of the evening. He led her back to the inn and then turned to go back to the forest, to hunt no doubt, Alys remembered.

"Hey, wait. Sit, boy!" She called to dog Selendrile with a large smile and he stopped to turn and do his best to glare at her and growl. Chuckling, she walked over to him and put a hand on his head. "Be careful Selendrile," she whispered seriously as she scratched behind his ear. He looked up at her as if to tell her to do the same and then ran off into the woods.


	6. Chapter 6

With her body dripping wet, she opened the heavy door of the inn and slunk inside. She was wet, cold, concerned and confused - but her body was buzzing with excitement. The innkeeper's wife ran over to her with a large cloth and help dry her off while ushering her to a seat near the fire in the tavern.

"You're soaked to the bone! What would your brother say? He will be quite cross with you and us if you get ill, my dear. Stay by the fire and I will fetch you a hot bowl of soup! Don't move." She scampered off without a second to allow Alys to give her an excuse.

Alys sighed. The woman was nice and almost motherly towards her, she couldn't help but like her. Eating the soup slowly by the fire she attempted to finally give the thanks the kind woman deserved. "You've been too kind. My brother and I thank you for all you have done and continue to do for us."

"I've not seen much of your brother since you first came here, I do hope he is alright." The innkeeper's wife looked like a worried mother hen, looking towards the door for her chick.

The idea of Selendrile transformed into an adorable and defenseless baby chick made Alys laugh, causing her to cough and almost spit up some of her soup. The woman gave Alys a confused look and pat on the back. "Sorry, it's hot," she lied, convincingly she guessed, the woman gave her another concerned look. Alys finished her soup in silence and then thanked her again before heading up to her room.

The rain still poured outside and she could hear it taping against the shutters of her closed window. She threw herself onto the bed and let out a heavy sigh. It was too dark to read, actually it was too dark to see much of anything, but her body hummed with alertness. A warmth spread through her as she remembered the soft touch of Selendrile's lips, her body buzzing once more with what can only be described as giddiness. Staring up at the darkness, she began to think of how different things had become with Selendrile.

When Alys met Selendrile, he was cold, callous, and a killer. Alys knew he was still a capable killer, but for her sake, he chose not to kill - or at least agreed not to eat anyone. He was still a dragon after all. A dragon that cared for her.

He had grown in his knowledge of humans, whether it be by spending time with her or watching others in the towns they visited. He even picked up some very human like habits (including Alys's sigh). She had picked up some of his habits as well, she teased him when she was given the opportunity and was slightly more cynical than she had been. In the end though, she believed they brought the best out in one another. Selendrile brought the stubborn and feisty woman out in sweet and innocent Alys and she brought out the kind human in him, most of the time anyway.

Their relationship had changed as much as they had in the past couple of years. When they met, they were basically enemies, a human versus a dragon - though it wasn't much of a contest and it didn't last long. Then they became business partners, in the business of revenge. After their business was done and Selendrile asked Alys to stay with him, they became companions and she liked to think that was the beginning of them becoming friends. Sometimes she thought of herself as a form of entertainment or just someone to keep him from being lonely, rather than his friend. After two years together, she would definitely call Selendrile her friend, even if he didn't feel the same. He was all she had.

Her mind wandered back to the kiss they had just shared in the woods. It had been so unusual - wonderful, but strange. She wondered if he kissed her because he didn't want her to leave him for Lanin. Leaving Selendrile was never an option for her though. If he wanted to be rid of her, he would have to leave her, like she knew someday that he would. Her mind wandered back to the kiss again, hoping to cling to the feeling it left her with. What would a kiss mean for their already strange relationship? Mentally, she stomped down her hope that he cared for her romantically like she longed for him to, knowing that a human and a dragon could never work. She sighed again, she hadn't seen him very much since they came to town and on dark and rainy nights like tonight, she really missed his company. Eventually, her mind and body gave into the rhythmic sound of the rain and she fell into a lovely, dreamless sleep.

The next morning she woke up early enough to eat breakfast at the inn, something that made the innkeeper's wife extra cheery. With a full belly she practically skipped to Lanin's shop through the damp streets, dodging muddy puddles as she hopped along. Lanin was thrilled to see her again and she was pleased to see him too, though she would rather be spending this time with her dragon friend.

While spending yet another day sorting through odds and ends in the back room, without any luck of finding the dagger, Lanin and Alys continued getting to know one another. Lanin told of how he had once thought of joining up with an army that passed through town, promising him wealth and women, but chose to stay with the shop despite showing promise to be a strong warrior. He was a lover, not a fighter, he explained with a wink. Alys shared her fairly recent love of reading and of traveling with Selendrile, forgetting for a moment not to be totally honest, she went on talk of how her BROTHER Selendrile took her to many interesting places. She mentioned a few stories about magnificent waterfalls and breathtaking views of the ocean from sandy dunes, dazzling Lanin with all she had seen. He was enchanted with the idea of far off places, but while he enjoyed hearing of them, he wasn't all that interested in actually leaving his home town of Lythe.

"You're just lucky it is a big town." Alys said, not understanding how he could never want to travel if given the chance.

"Yes," Lanin chuckled, "it stays busy here and we always get the most interesting and wonderful visitors."

Alys couldn't help but blush knowing that he was talking about her now. She noticed the day had gone by even quicker than the last and that the sun had just about to set outside, leaving the sky a beautiful orange and pink. Finishing up her work and collecting her things to got up to wish Lanin a good night.

"Alys, before you go I wanted to ask if you would be celebrating Hallowmas tomorrow? The town doesn't hold an official festival but everyone usually takes off early to pay their respects to those who have passed and then proceed to get drunk in the town square. There is usually good food because of those who fasted and there's some dancing... well there is music and people moving around, anyway. It can get pretty silly after dark." Lanin explained quickly, a little embarassed.

"Oh." Alys had never celebrated Hallowmas before. St. Toby's wasn't large enough to spend every holiday celebrating, they usual saved that for only a few important festivals every year. "I don't know. My brother isn't fond of crowds..."

"Well, I will be looking for you, in case you decide to come out." Lanin smiled, though it looked like he was a little disappointed she didn't plan to go.

She smiled back at him as he walked her to the door, guessing he was planning on walking her back to the inn again tonight. Before they had a chance to step outside together, Selendrile walked through the door.

"Selendrile! What are you doing here?" Alys asked surprised, peeking over his shoulder to see the sun had fully set.

Selendrile eyed Lanin suspiciously, "I figured you would be here, when I didn't find you at the inn. I thought I'd come walk you home."

Alys rolled her eyes at his pathetic excuse for an innocent look. She was glad to see him though and linked her arm in his. Turning back to Lanin, she introduced him to her supposed brother, though she knew it was ridiculous being that they looked nothing alike.

Lanin shook Selendrile's free hand with, what looked to Alys, like a hard grip. Lanin smiled politely, though Alys had seen him smile enough to know that it wasn't genuine. Selendrile didn't bother to return the smile.

"Let's go Alys," Selendrile said a little rudely, pulling her along down the street. Alys turned to give an apologetic look to Lanin and wave good night.

Once down the street, out of sight, Alys gave Selendrile a hard slap on his shoulder, though she doubt he hardly felt it. She just sighed and decided to enjoy the little time they had together, he'd have to go hunt later tonight so she only had his company for a few hours.

"What's Hallowmas?" Selendrile asked. He didn't sound overly curious but Alys figured he had heard Lanin ask her if she was going.

"Well, I've never celebrated it but I know that it involves praying for the souls of loved ones and then celebrating their memory. Children, and sometimes adults, wear masks and go door to door asking for food or treats in exchange for saying prayers. Some people fast the day before and then have a feast. Lanin said the town usually gets drunk and dances to music though, not sure if that's usual or just a Lythe thing."

"I heard that too. Do you like dancing?" Selendrile responded blankly.

"Yes, but wait...Too? Who did you hear that from?"

"I stayed around the tavern last night after hunting. I was hoping to hear some dragon rumors but instead I got stuck talking with a barmaid. She mentioned Hallowmas and went on and on about how much fun it is to drink and dance. She was persistent about asking me to go with her." Selendrile explained.

Alys was fuming. She had spent the night reeling over their kiss, missing him and wishing they were able to spend more time together and all the while, he had been downstairs flirting with a barmaid. Selendrile would only tease her of being jealous if she confronted him, but she was so mad she could hardly help herself. Hiking up her skirt, she twisted her arm away from him and took off in huff towards the inn. Selendrile quickly caught up to her and had no trouble keeping up with her quickened pace. Her face became red with embarrassment and anger as he walked beside her. Finally, Selendrile became curious as to why she was changing colors and acting strangely so he pulled at her arm to stop and turn her.

Alys yanked her arm away from him, "What? You want my company now?" She seethed, practically hissing the words through her teeth. So much for not showing she was jealous.

Tilting his head, Selendrile answered her, "Well, yes. Is that wrong?"

Frustrated, Alys just grumbled a sigh and took off towards the inn again. This time Selendrile followed a few steps behind, they continued like this all the way back to the inn and when Alys reached her room and she slammed her door in Selendrile's face.

She threw her face into her pillow and waited, knowing that Selendrile would come in whether she wanted him to or not. He was to interested in her 'exaggerated' human emotions, as he had once explained, saying dragons don't tend to be as dramatic (except maybe when it comes to anger).

Without fail, Selendrile soon came into the room and quietly came to sit next to her on the bed. When she made no attempt to talk to him or even acknowledge his presence, he went to gently rub her shoulder. She shrugged him off in disgust.

"Alys, you're mad at me?" Selendrile asked with his head tilted again.

She heard the confusion in his voice and for a moment she felt guilty, knowing he didn't know he'd done anything wrong and if she could be honest with herself she know that he really didn't do anything wrong. He had only flirted with a barmaid, just like she had flirted with Lanin. Though, she knew Selendrile hadn't actually flirted with the barmaid, it was more likely he just sat there bored while she talked and threw herself at him. Neither of them had any real reason to be jealous anyway, because they were nothing more than friends.

Letting out a large sigh, she turned her head to look at him. His brow was furrowed together and his eyes, while still a stunning purple, looked lost. Her anger slipped away and she sat up to face him. "I'm sorry Selendrile. I - I just miss you is all. After spending so much time together, it has been hard to not see you as much as I'm used to."

Selendrile sighed, making Alys smile and he smiled in return. "Yes, we've been here less than a week and while I've seen you almost every night, I miss you too."

Alys was surprised by his emotional (for a dragon) words. She remembered the kiss in the rain and blushed, throwing her face back into the pillow before he could see.

"We just need to find the dagger and then we can leave." Selendrile assured.

Alys still didn't know or understand why he wanted the dagger so badly, but she decided not to bother pushing the subject.

Selendrile accompanied her to dinner, listening to her talk about what she has learned of Lanin, Lythe, Marlin, and the strange items she had seen sorting through at the shop, while she ate. His eyes flickered with contempt anytime she mentioned Lanin and narrowed when she mentioned the awful man Marlin and his dragon hunting father, he looked completely bored other than that. He followed up to her room again to tell her about his hunting adventures, in the woods for animals and shops for the dagger. She was surprised to learn he had been breaking into shops at night, but she had heard no rumors of thieves, probably because he hadn't taken anything. The darkness faded as they talked and it wasn't until Alys saw the sky lightning from her window did she realize that Selendrile had spent his entire night with her. She fell asleep with only an hour or so before sunrise, Selendrile sitting next to her, stroking tresses of her brown hair until dawn.

Waking up later that say, she saw that the sun was fairly high in the sky and that she had definitely missed breakfast. She went downstairs in time for lunch with a skip in her step. It had been a late night but she didn't regret losing sleep to spend time with Selendrile. After a filling lunch, she decided to go see Lanin, though not planning on staying to help sort through the shop today she figured she should at least stop by for a chat since she had been dragged away so abruptly the day before.

Lanin was glad to see her, as usual. She apologized for her brother's behavior but he just laughed it off.

"With a sister like you, he is just being a good brother. I'm happy you came by when you did though! I'm closing the shop early to go celebrate with the rest of the town. I plan to stop by my parent's graves first, but then the fun begins. Care to join me?"

Alys hesitated. She wanted to go dance and she made a mental note to say a pray for her mother, father, and Risa before the day was over, but she decided it would be better of her to go back to the inn and wait for Selendrile to return for the night. After all, she had just had a fit over them not spending enough time together. She polietly declined his invitation and went to bid him goodbye and tell him to have fun.

Before she had a chance to turn and leave, Lanin swooped down and planted a kiss on her lips. Alys jumped back, stunned. She had smiled at him, but she didn't mean for that smile to give him permission to kiss her. Fumbling another goodbye she ran out the door back to the inn.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well I will admit I started this story like a chapter ago and then went back and quickly wrote the beginning...so HOPEFULLY the story and writing is getting better now. If you are reading this, thanks for sticking with it so far. FYI: I will need to be changing the rating to M...don't leave me!

* * *

Alys sat curled up on her bed waiting for Selendrile to return for the night. Guilt was slowly building up inside her. Lanin had kissed her, without her permission, but she still felt guilt eating away at her. She wasn't sure why she felt so bad, she and Selendrile were not together romantically, she had to keep reminding herself of that fact. Lanin was harmless of course, but he was more comfortable with her than he should be. She began to twirl a strand of her hair between her fingers.

_Probably best if I don't tell Selendrile that he had kissed me. It meant nothing, no need to make it a big deal. _Alys cleared her mind and instead focused on the music she could her all the way from the town's center.

"Are you ready to go?" Selendrile asked leaning against the wall, his arm crossed.

_How does he get in here so quietly?_

"Go? We haven't found your dagger yet. Shouldn't we try for at least a few more days?" Alys asked confused.

Selendrile chuckled. "No, I mean, are you ready to go into town for Hallowmas?"

Alys jumped up from her bed, squealed with delight and ran over to Selendrile, wrapping him into a giant hug. Selendrile was not a fan of humans, besides Alys, and she didn't imagined that he would willingly put himself among an entire town of them if he wasn't forced to. She grabbed Selendrile's arm and rushed him outside towards the crowd that had come together for Hallowmas.

Lythe was a large town and the celebration for Hallowmas was grander than Alys could have imagined for an unofficial celebration. The town center was decorated with flowers and colorful cloth banners hung from the tallest windows across the square. Torches encircled the many booths and the large crowd that danced to the sprightly music around a large bonfire. Some people wore masks, but it was easy to tell with masks or not, a large portion of the crowd was drunk from drinking since early in the afternoon. Children in masks ran between Alys and Selendrile, ducking under their clasped hands. Alys giggled and smiled a wide smile, they had reminded her of her younger self and Risa.

Alys peeked a glimpse at Selendrile to see if he was as miserable as she imagined he would be. She was happy to see he was smiling at her. A friendly town patron slapped Selendrile on the back, wishing him a happy Hallowmas and offering to say a pray for their souls and passing two large pints of ale into his hands. "For you and your lady!" He cheered with a wink of an eye and then he was gone, fading into the crowd.

Selendrile frowned and passed a cup to Alys. She took a huge gulp, the drink burned her throat but it was cool and refreshing. She laughed as Selendrile took a sip of his and immediately scrunched his nose in disgust. "It will go down easier the more you drink it," she assured. Selendrile squinted his eyes at her and took another disgusted sip. Alys just laughed.

They walked leisurely arm in arm, going booth to booth, looking at silly trinkets and Alys snacking on the many different foods available. They observed with amusement, the intoxicated fools dancing among the crowd, stumbling more than dancing. Alys cringed when one tried to pull her to join him for a dance. She managed to resist against his drunken tugging, apologizing to him, though she knew he didn't know what she was telling him. Selendrile let out a large chuckle at the sight and Alys shot him an evil glare.

"At least he had the decency to ask me to dance," she humphed crossing her arms.

Selendrile raised an eyebrow and took the opportunity to pull her into the crowd. Alys hadn't expected it and stumbled, landing hard against Selendrile's chest. Already warmed from the ale, her face became even more heated as she blushed against Selendrile's hard form. He let out a breathy laugh and straightened her out so they could begin to dance. The small amount of ale they had consumed pushed their inhibitions aside. They danced and twirled among the crowd, accelerating with the beat of the music. At the end of their fourth song, Alys had to stop to catch her breath, a smile smeared across her face. Selendrile had no need to catch his, he stood eyeing her with a dragon-like grin, probably making a snide remark to himself about her being a weak human.

Selendrile didn't let her rest for long, as the next song began, he spun her around, matching her grin, they stumbled out of the dancing circle and into the edge of the crowd. Alys felt dizzy and she lost sight of Selendrile. Suddenly, she felt hands wrap around her waist, spinning her before dropping her down in front of himself. Selendrile had returned into view with a beautiful pink flower in his hand, he reached up to tuck it behind Alys' ear, smiling as if he just finished painting a masterpiece. He looked so incredibly human and she took a moment to look at his unnatural amethyst eyes and remind herself that he was NOT human. Alys felt exhilarated and she shot Selendrile a mischievous look before skipping away from the crowd. Selendrile smirked to himself, switching to dragon mode, the hunt was on.

Alys ran like she was 8 years old again, though instead of the innocent game she imagined, she knew she should feel like a deer running for its life from a wolf. The excitement of the chase caused her blood to pulse hard through her veins. She finally stopped, throwing herself against a cool stone wall in a dark street just slightly away from the crowds. Music and laughter could still be faintly heard between her heavy breaths. She looked back for Selendrile, knowing there was no way she had actually lost him.

"Don't you know better by now? You can't escape a dragon." Selendrile popped up from behind her and pinned her to the wall.

Alys let out a gasp. In the dim light, she could barely see his eyes sparkle with eagerness and a grin spread across his face. The silly game of chase suddenly became something more. Alys became worried that she had just given herself away as easy prey to the world's most dangerous predator.

Before she could resist against him, he cupped the sides of her face and lightly pressed his lips to hers. Her heart began pounding rapidly again. She returned his advances, parting her lips so his tongue could meet with hers. The kiss had started much like the one they had shared in the woods, but it quickly became heated, their bodies were moving like they were no longer under their control.

His body crushed her up against the wall, lifting her slightly off the ground, trapping her body against his own. Her arms wrapped around his muscular shoulders, she pulled herself up to him, clutching the soft materials of his shirt with her fists. Selendrile moved one hand slowly to cradle the back of her head, tangling with tresses of her hair and the other around the small of her back. He broke away from her lips and moved down to brush slow, gentle kisses against the soft skin of her neck. She gasped and threw her head back in response, arching her back and pressing her chest towards him.

Chills ran down Alys' spine as she felt Selendrile's ragged, warm breath on her skin.

He trickled his ardent kisses down her collarbone towards the small gap in her bodice. Alys allowed one of her hands to pull at the front of her bodice, loosening the laces, allowing his lips to trace the tender skin of her breast, as she softly ran her other hand's fingers into his silky hair. His lips craved the salty sweet taste of her skin and her body longed for his mouth to touch every inch of her body.

Alys sighed in pleasure, Selendrile began pushing aside her dress and grabbing at her thighs, lifting her legs to wrap around his waist. She pressed her hips into his as he returned his lips to hers. He moaned into her mouth, causing her body to practically spasm with excitement against him. Strong hands came around to her backside, gently squeezing as he pulled her tighter to him. Almost involuntarily, her hips thrusted again, her breath catching as she pushed her lower half into his arousal that was pressed against the material of his pants.

A loud clatter of wood planks fell into the street, startling them and causing them to separate. They scrambled apart and froze the best they could with their breathing still heavy, listening hard to hear if anyone was near and may have seen them. It would be hard to convince people that they were simply brother and sister if they were caught in such a compromising position.

Selendrile stood like a statue for a moment, his chest rising and falling more evenly now. Alys' breaths were still rapid, but she studied his face for evidence of their discovery, knowing he would hear someone that she ever would.

He let out an irritated puff of air through his nose and continued to look in the direction of noise. "I think we should probably call it a night."

Alys just nodded, her face pink, still trying to calm her racing heart. They walked silently back to the inn, not bothering to cross arms or hold hands, instead keeping a small distance from one another. Alys' skin still tingled and she longed to reach over and touch Selendrile's hand, feeling the spark of electricity from their skin on skin contact. Selendrile never looked over at her though and she became disheartened when she saw the frown tugging at the corners of his lips. They didn't speak until they reached Alys' room and he turned to her to say goodnight.

"Thank you for taking me," she spoke softly.

"You're welcome."

They stood looking at one another for a few moments. Selendrile broke their self-implemented barrier, leaning close and lifting his hand like he was going to touch her cheek, but he instead reached for the flower behind her ear, took it and let his hand drop. "Goodnight, Alys," he said curtly like he had said to her so many nights before, with the pink flower he had given her crumpled in his fist. With that, he quickly turned and left her lingering in the hallway.

Once in her room, Alys took off her dress and threw herself onto her bed. _What had happened? _She was happy it had happened but wondered if tomorrow they would come to regret their actions. Maybe they just drank more ale than she had thought and this will be a foggy memory when they woke tomorrow. She secretly hoped not, wanting to remember the caresses of his lips and possessive grasp. She let out a sigh, yawn, and debated getting up and going to Selendrile's room with hopes of continuing what they started.

Before she could speculate further she felt eyes staring at her. She shot her head up from her bed to see Selendrile standing over her in just his trousers, looking at her with hungry eyes.

"Selendrile?" she asked shakily, her pulse rising.

He didn't speak as he rushed down to her with inhuman speed. He pushed her shoulders down and pulled up her satire over her head to expose her womanly form. Using his knee to push apart her legs, he leaned down to kiss her.

"I need you, Alys. All you have to say is yes." He purred in her ear before beginning to kiss along her jawline.

"Yes," she moaned.

She closed her eyes as he released himself from his breeches and leaned back down to her. His impressive size pushed against her inner thigh, teasing her. Leaning into her, she could feel him warm raspy breaths tickle her ear. She gasped, her eyes flashing open as he entered her. She searched his jeweled eyes to see the desire for only her.

She yelped in shock. Selendrile's amethyst eyes were not looking back at her but instead were replaced with the brown eyes of Lanin. Pushing at his broad shoulders to escape from under him, she clambered away to the other side of the bed, grabbing a sheet to cover herself.

Before she could ask what was happening she saw someone standing in the doorway. _Selendrile! Had he seen them?_

"Whore," Selendrile snarled and turned his back to her.

Alys' eye shot open, her body covered in a cold sweat. _Only a dream._

After such a disturbing dream, she spent the day close to the inn, wanting to avoid Lanin's shop. When Selendrile came to see her at night she debated telling him about her dream, but quickly decided it was too disturbing. They only spoke of what had happened at the Hallowmas celebration briefly.

"I am fairly certain we were not seen."

"You mean you aren't sure? Even with your dragon senses," Alys teased.

"I was preoccupied." He shurgged his shoulders.

That night wasn't mentioned again. In fact, they spoke very little for the next two nights.

The following day was just like the two days before. Alys stayed close to the inn, not quite ready to face Lanin. She spent most of her day trying the decipher the meaning of her arousing nightmare. The only idea she could come up with (and stomach) was that she was feeling guilty about her kiss with Lanin. She wasn't quite ready to bring up the Hallowmas evening again with Selendrile, but she thought it might ease her guilt if she told him Lanin had kissed her. She mentioned it to him when she saw him briefly that night at the inn's tavern.

"Selendrile?" He sat across from her staring into his untouched drink, giving her no indication that he had heard her, but she knew he had. She continued. "I need to tell you something that has been bothering me."

His head perked up, though no emotion registered on his face, she knew she had his attention.

She took a deep breath and spit out the words as quickly as she could. "A few days ago I was at Lanin's shop and we were talking and suddenly he kissed me. I - I just thought that you should know."

"I see." He said after a long pause, still no emotion registering on his face.

"I'm sure it didn't mean anything. He was just being overly friendly." She explained.

"Ok." He responded dryly, like she had just told him that she had stew for dinner.

They didn't speak another word to one another the rest of the night. At first she was relieved Selendrile hadn't gotten upset or chose to tease her about Lanin kissing her, but she quickly realized that he normally would have. They were not themselves around one another recently and she was beginning to wonder if there actions from the other night had ruined their strange companionship.

The next morning Alys got up and went outside and sighed as she decided what she should do with her day. Selendrile was ignoring her and she had been avoiding Lanin's shop. She was bored, lonely and needed some kind of interaction. She decided she needed to get past her dream and the kiss with Lanin and by late afternoon she had finally decided that she should clear the air and go to his shop.

"Lanin?" She announced herself as she opened the door to his shop.

"Alys!" Lanin said, looking startled rather than excited to see her.

"Evening!" She said with her warmest smile. "Sorry I haven't been by in a few days. I -"

"Not a problem. I'm actually really busy." He interrupted her.

"Oh," she said a little taken aback by his vexed tone. "Well, I won't bother you for long then. I just wanted to apologize for leaving so quickly the last time I was here. You just surprised me when you kissed me and -"

"Think nothing of it Alys," he interrupted her again. "Now I have to get back to work," he turned to return to stocking a shelf.

"Oh, um, ok. Goodnight then." She said softly as she left to turn out of the shop. _Strange._


	8. Chapter 8

Alys noticed the darkening sky as she left the shop and decided to start heading back towards the inn. She tried to shove off the strange conversation she had just had. _He must be swamped and his pride still hurt from me basically rejecting him. _She sighed, both Lanin and Selendrile weren't really speaking to her now.

"Maybe I am a whore." She spoke to herself. "Great, now I'm talking to myself."

She needed some companionship. She might not have been able to clear the air with Lanin, but surely she could talk to Selendrile. It was obvious that the moment that they had shared had caused him to keep his distance from her. Alys was determined to bring it up though, to get him to talk with her again.

Selendrile would be back not long after the sun set and she wanted to talk with him as soon as he returned. She couldn't bare another evening of loneliness, especially now that her human company was keeping her at an arms length. She refused to spend the rest of her days with a companion that was going to just avoid her.

As she trudged along the damp streets, thinking of that night, she struggled to focus enough on the present to avoid bumping into others. Imagining Selendrile's soft lips on her neck caused her to blush uncontrollably. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, she nearly missed the entrance to the inn.

As she walked inside, she saw that the sun had nearly set in the sky behind her. _He'll be back soon._ Her stomach churned with nervousness. She finally lifted her head and looked over to the tavern.

"Any dinner my dear?" asked the innkeeper's pleasantly plump wife. In times like these, Alys really appreciated her kindness.

While dinner smelled delicious, she decided it best to skip it tonight. Her nerves had her stomach in knots and the last thing she wanted to worry about was becoming sick whilst trying to talk to Selendrile.

"No, thank you. I think I will just be heading up for the night," Alys responded as politely as possible. She gave the woman a kind smile and went to turn up the stairs.

Before she had fully turned, she had caught a quick glimpse at one of the patrons in the tavern. She would not had noticed him except that his inebriated eyes were staring at her in a disconcerting way. Alys had seen him in the tavern before, drunk and nearly beginning a brawl with someone before being settled down. She felt very uncomfortable and made a quick escape up to her room.

"Not back yet," she sighed looking around the room and seeing no sign of the dragon-youth. With the privacy she thought it best she go ahead and change into a clean dress for the night. She was struggling to unlace her bodice when there was a knock at the door. She jumped and her heart began pounding in her chest. Selendrile never knocked.

"Who is it?"

She had hoped that it was just the innkeeper's wife checking in on her to be sure she didn't want anything to eat, but that was dashed away when the only answer she was given was another thudding knock.

"Go away!" was all she could manage. Then the door gave a sudden creak, crack and was opened.

The drunken man that had been staring at her downstairs now stood in her doorway. He shut the door behind him and sloppily stumbled towards Alys. She quickly turned to run to the window and scream for help, but before she even had a chance to cry out she was grabbed and thrown to the floor. A large, meaty hand with hairy knuckles covered her mouth and an equally large man loomed over her. She kicked and hit at the mass on top of her with all the ferocity that she could muster, but the man only pressed his body weight against her harder, making it difficult for her to even breath.

"Relax, it will be over faster if you don't struggle," he slurred into her ear.

She convulsed in terror and manage to open her mouth to bite down on his hand.

"Ah," he yanked it back from her face, only to return it with a hard punch.

The pain went through her head like a wave crashing into her. She struggled to keep consciousness, though she began to wonder if being unconscious would really be such a bad thing. She closed her eyes as tight as she could, trying vacate her own body as the man's free hand traced over her hips.

"No!" was all she could whimper before he reached up and enclosed his hand around her neck. He held it down tightly enough that she was gasping for breath.

He leaned into her, slurring his words, "you'll probably enjoy it." The stench of rum and his horrid breath brought tears to Alys eyes as she struggled one more time.

The weight against her was too heavy, she closed her eyes again, waiting for it to all be over. Suddenly, she heard a loud bang and all the weight lifted.

_Selendrile! _She managed to lift herself slightly to see her savior with his hands around her attacker's neck. She knew with his dragon strength he could have killed him instantly, but he instead chose for the man die more slowly, struggling to breath and turn blue.

"Selendrile, stop! Don't kill him!" she shouted in horror as the foul man's eyes started to roll back into his head. Selendrile didn't ease up on his grip. "Please, stop!" Alys cried again. She didn't want this man's fate to be the same as Atherton, even if they both really deserved it.

He suddenly let out an inhuman roar and threw the man like a rag doll against the far wall. While the man wasn't awake and an unnatural color, she could see his chest rise and fall, filling with air. Her eyes darted to Selendrile, his flickered with an intense flame that glared at the man's slumped over body.

"Stop? Did you want him to continue?" he growled towards her, keeping his voice low. The ferocious rage in his voice made her flinch. While his dragon anger was nothing she hadn't experienced before in the years they have spent together, but it wasn't something she'd ever become accustomed to, especially in times like now when she feels vulnerable.

She was trembling, the reality of the attack and Selendrile's rage sweeping through her. As their eyes locked, his suddenly changed from fury to concern. He went to move towards her, but stopped closed his eyes to collect himself and then slowly lowered himself down to the floor.

Alys pulled her knees to her chest, rocked herself slowly and closed her eyes. He sat on the floor across from her for a long while. He quickly scanned her body for physical damage, trying to be as un-invasive as possible. He noted the bruises forming around her neck and on her cheek, rage flashed through his eyes once more. The man against the wall moaned and shifted against the wall. Alys gave an involuntary, terrified gasp, even though she knew no harm would come to her with Selendrile near.

Selendrile stood, picked up the man, and took him outside the room. Alys' heart raced and she felt panic rise as soon as Selendrile opened the door to leave the room. Selendrile took notice of her body tensing, let out a sigh, allowing his body to soften. He quickly dumped the man down the hall and came back into the room. He walked over to her curled up form and sat down close enough that he could reach out and touch her, but didn't make an attempt to make any physical contact.

She looked at him staring at her. He held no expression on his face but had concern and maybe even sorrow in his eyes. She couldn't hold it together anymore and she lunged herself into his arms and started to sob. She threw her concerns about the current state of their relationship out the window.

Selendrile was shocked at first as she buried her head into his chest but he carefully placed his arms around her, as if to wrap her in a safe cocoon. He held her in his protective embrace until she drifted off to sleep. He knew they needed to leave the inn tonight if they were to avoid her having to answer questions as to what happened, but he was reluctant to move her in the off chance he might wake her. Finally, he gently kissed her soft hair and decided it was time to leave. He continued to hold her tightly to his chest and he rose up and headed out the window into the night.

Alys eyes blinked slowly as she awoke. She was outside next to a campfire, it was still dark out. _How long have I been asleep? _She suddenly realized that she wasn't curled up on the ground but cuddled up on Selendrile's warm lap. His eyes were staring at her, studying her face as she looked up at him. A blush crossed her cheeks and she tried to get up out of embarrassment but he only tightened his embrace. Her body ached but the cold night air didn't reach her skin, as it was warmed by Selendrile's arms and bare chest._What would have happened if he hadn't come?_ A shiver shot down her spine.

"Are you cold?" he asked emotionless.

"Uh, no I'm fine. How long have I been asleep?"

"A day. I suppose your body needed time to recover," he said in his calm, low voice.

She only nodded in response, not even bothering to be alarmed she had missed an entire sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Thank you," she whispered. When she didn't get any kind of response, she braved a look up at him, remembering the rage that had filled his eyes. He was still staring at her, but she didn't turn away, instead she studied his eyes. His amethyst eyes were clouded over with a sea of emotions that Alys couldn't understand. Selendrile saw the confusion on her face.

"I'm sorry," he said looking away from her and into the flames of the fire. She was shocked. Selendrile doesn't do apologies, not straight out verbal ones anyway.

"Sorry for what?"

He kept his gaze on the fire. "I should have came back sooner. I -" He was stopped suddenly by Alys' finger coming to rest on his lips.

"You saved me. You came just in time. No permanent damage done," she let out a sigh and small smile. She honestly felt completely safe sitting in his arms. The attack was almost a distant and faint memory even though it was only a day ago. She was glad to let any memory of that fade away.

He didn't try to argue with her but she could see in his eyes that he was still holding onto it. She decided it might be time to change the subject.

"Are there still a few hours until dawn?"

He nodded.

She decided she should go ahead and bring up the night of Hallowmas. It had been what she wanted to talk about before and it would hopefully bring his attention away from his self loathing.

"Sooo, the night of the Hallowmas celebration..." she trailed off, unsure of what exactly she wanted to ask.

His attention returned and his eyebrow arched. Shifting slightly underneath her, his arms slowly drifted from his embrace around her.

"I guess I just want to know...where that leaves us?" She mumbled, now uncomfortable to be in his lap. She lifted herself from his lap and went to sit next to him instead. He didn't try to stop her this time.

Selendrile stayed silent, his face unreadable. Alys was beginning to become frustrated with his lack of response, then he brushed a hand through the top of his long golden hair. His usual collected demeanor was gone and he was obviously uncomfortable.

"Was that a bad thing to have happened?" he asked, revealing nothing.

"Um, no. I don't think so. I suppose it COULD be." she stumbled with her answer and her thoughts.

He gave her a quizzical look, letting her know that he would need further explanation.

She let out a heavy sigh, regretting that she brought it up without a better plan of how she wanted the conversation to go.

"I mean if you are going to continue to ignore me, then yes, it was not a good thing. Also, I - I don't want it to be something you regret," she responded shyly.

"Do you?" He responded quickly, his face a blank slate.

She blushed and looked at her fingers. "No, I liked it," she whispered. Alys couldn't brave a look up to see his reaction. She was surprised when his hand came to rest on hers, lacing their fingers together. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she saw the torn look on his face. Wanting to taste his sweet lips again, she mustered all the courage should could to make the first move.

Alys reached her free hand around the back of his neck and pressed her lips up to his.

He held completely still, unsure of what he should do in response. She stubbornly continued her assault on his lips, hoping to let him know she wanted him to kiss her back. As she freed her hand from his to join it with the other wrapped around his neck, he took the hint. He slowly began to return her kisses and they quickly picked up with passion.

Selendrile's tongue parted her lips and he moaned as he tasted her. He pulled her tightly to his naked chest as if he was trying to mold their bodies into one. Their pulses were pounding and she was unable to distinguish his from her own. She twirled a hand into his long golden hair and then slowly began to bring it down in descent. She struggled to find enough space to bring her hand between them, but eventually managed to reach down for her intended target. She knew she shouldn't and that it was wrong. A proper lady would never try to seduce a man, but he wasn't really a man and she decided she'd long since passed the chance of being a proper lady. She stroked her hand against his erection, pressing her body harder into him. He broke from her lips to let out a gasp and moan.

"Alys," he groaned her name against her lips, as if to beg her to stop.

Before he could protest further she pulled him by the back of his neck and by the front of his trousers onto herself, into the cool grass. His objections now gone, he pressed himself into her and she lifted her hips in response, only a few pesky layers of clothes between them. His lips began to plant fevered kisses on the soft skin of her neck. She again slid her hand against the smooth skin and rippled muscles of his stomach, down into the front of his loosened trousers and around his shaft. He let out a moan into the crook of her neck, causing her hand to squeeze and grind against him.

"Ah," he growled.

Alys paused for a moment, unsure if she was causing him pleasure or pain. His hands answered by caressing her body, one pushing against her breast and the other pushing aside the bottom of her dress and gripping her exposed thigh, his fingertips digging into her skin. He thrusted himself into her hand, causing it to rub against her own heat, her hand gingerly stroked his throbbing excitement. She parted her thighs to allow him better access as she struggled to free him from what little clothes he still wore.

His hand reached her wrist and pulled it back. He lifted his head just above hers, his eyes closed and let out another growl. Alys' eyes searched his face for translation. His eyes blinked open, the beautiful purple jewels were burning with lust, frustration, and fear. He pushed her hands down to her sides and lifted himself off of her. Her groin ached and pulsed with anticipation, of which would not be fulfilled.

"Alys, we can't," he stated cooly as he straightened his trousers and stepped away from her.

She sat up, confused and her pride wounded. Suddenly very embarrassed by her actions, she scrambled to her feet, straightening out her disheveled appearance the best she could.

Slowly, she backed away from him and tears stung her eyes, threatening to fall. Her emotions of sadness and embarrassment quickly added anger. She looked down at her feet, her hands clenched. _What have I done? _Realizing she had just offered herself to him and he refused her, he wouldn't just ignore her, but leave her all together.

Before she could stop herself, words began to pour out of her mouth and she let go of everything that she had been holding back. She couldn't stand to look at him, so she instead lifted her head slightly to gaze at the moon. "Since we've been in this town I have begun to hope that my fantasies, that may have started as long ago as when you asked me to stay with you, might actually come true. I thought that there was a chance you could love me. Now, I see that you don't." Her knee wobbled nervously as she spoke.

He didn't respond. Selendrile stood, as always, the unmoved, unemotional human statue.

Alys continued, her heart was slowly breaking and she felt she needed to make any attempt she could to keep him with her. Locking her eyes with his, she began her plea. "I know you don't love me, but I think that you could - or maybe I just need to believe you could. Just... stay." She paused. The lie might be all that she would ever have and in this moment she needed it. "Stay with me for the night. Lie to me. Tell me I'm yours."

He stood across the fire from her, watching the flames highlight the wet glaze over her eyes. She was giving herself to him, he wanted her, but he knew it would only lead to more pain. "Alys, you shouldn't be with me." He stated as cooly as he could, struggling to keep his cold veneer from beginning to crumble at her words.

Her heart shattered and she became truly desperate and angry. "Then how much longer should I stay with you? I'm telling you, I'm yours! Will you never be mine?" Her voice was breaking like her heart.

Selendrile winced at the words. He had gotten ahead of himself, without the dagger he knew he had to keep his promise to allow her to live a normal life, without him. "I have not found what I came to this town for and need to leave soon before I am discovered." He began to explain. "I think you should stay here."

"You want me to stay?" Her voiced shook slightly as she spoke.

"You could have a good life here. You would have your choice of husbands. You could start a family and live a normal life." His voice broke slightly when he spoke the word husband, but Alys hadn't noticed.

"I don't want to stay here." She started to raise her voice.

"I think you would be happy here."

"Without you?"

"Yes. I'm a dragon, Alys! I'm not yours and you are not mine." His voice was on the verge of becoming angry. "It's the way it will always be." The cold callousness tone of his voice only added insult to injury. She wondered why he ever asked her to stay with him.

"You used me! You just used me like a toy for your entertainment! You never cared about me at all, did you?!"

Amethyst eyes began to darken as Selendrile's body stiffened to suppress his anger at her accusations. "I saved your life and have taken better care of you these past two years than you or anyone else could have." He growled.

"Well, I saved your life once too, so we are even. I'm sorry to have burdened you with my pathetic human needs and emotions!" She seethed.

"Oh, it was no burden," Selendrile bitterly mocked, "but now that I know my debt has been paid, I guess I'm finally free of you!"

"Yes, don't let a fragile human hold you back!"

"I won't and do you know why? I'd sooner EAT you than make love to you!" Speaking the words with such certainty, he knew he was trying to lie to himself as much as to Alys.

"You are a monster!" She shrieked at him with tears streaming down her face.

Turning pale, he shuffled back, hurt by her reaction. He hadn't expected her to actually believe his words, he certainly didn't. Hands covered her tear-filled eyes, she didn't look to see the tortured look on his face.

With her back to him, she slowly sat on the cold damp dirt with her knees in her chest. An anguished roar erupted through the air, making her jump. She looked back just in time to see a golden dragon soar away towards the light of the rising sun.


	9. Chapter 9

After a few hours of sobbing on the ground, she had fallen asleep from exhaustion a few minutes after dawn. The fire had died and she was left to be slowly blanketed with warmth of the sun. A hand touched her shoulder, startling her, she let out a small yelp.

"Alys! It's just me!" Lanin stood back with his hands spread in front of his body.

"Lanin? What are you doing here?" She asked confused.

"Alys are you alright? Your brother came to be before dawn this morning and told me what happened!"

"What? Selendrile came to you and said what?" She asked surprised.

"Um," he started hesitantly after seeing the shock on her face. "He said you were attacked and ran to the safety of the woods. He's gone now. You are safe." Lanin tried to reassure her.

Lanin had meant the horrible man that attack her was gone, but all she could think about was Selendrile. Selendrile was gone and she doubted he would ever return. She had called him a monster. Now with a clearer head and her bruised ego healed, she regretted that comment. She put her head in her hands. She was alone.

"Your brother said he had to return home and you argued with him that you wanted to stay. He asked me to come find you and look after you." He spoke cautiously.

"He's gone?" She asked looking at her hands.

"Yes, he told me he said goodbye to you last night...Would you like to come back to town with me? You look like you could use some tea and breakfast."

She took a moment to collect her thoughts._ He's really gone. I'm alone. _She wanted to cry but looked back up at Lanin who was still waiting for her to come with him. _Selendrile cared about me enough to send Lanin to find me and take me in. I suppose he feels he owes me that. _Lanin helped her up and took hold of her hand to begin to lead her back to town.

"Thank you Lanin." She mumbled as she walked with him mindlessly.

Selendrile was gone and she was now on her own. She began to think of the life she would live in the town of Lythe. Lanin would likely propose marriage to her before spring arrives. She would run the household while he ran his shop. Eventually, children would be born and she would raise them to be kind and generous, if she lived through their births. Her mind continued to wonder. _Where would Selendrile go now? He would travel alone, as dragons were meant to._ She began to wonder if he would someday find a female dragon to mate with and start a family. _Do dragons do that? Do dragons settle down and raise their young?_ She would never get the chance to find out.

"Took you long enough," grumbled a familiar voice, pulling Alys away from her thoughts.

They were no where near town, but instead in a large clearing still in the forest.

"You!" Alys shouted. The grisly who had been fired from the shop stood in the shadows against a large oak tree.

"She was a little slow to get moving, Marlin, but I got her here, didn't I?" Lanin said roughly, tightening his grip on Alys' wrist. She looked up confusingly at him. "Don't act so innocent, Alys. We know you are friends with the dragon."

"How?!" She gasped, knowing there was no use in denying.

"I followed you into the woods one night. I had planned on strangling you, **slowly**, as revenge for destroying my life, but then I overheard you call out for the dragon!" Marlin explained. "I decided that it would be prudent for me to wait, I could use you to capture the dragon! I hear he is golden in color and his priceless scales would make me as rich as the king!"

"He came to me a few days later," interrupted Lanin. "I thought he was mad, trying discredit your character to get back his job. Then, while looking for you among the crowd at Hallowmas, I followed you and your supposed 'brother.' I knew after what I saw that you were not the innocent maiden you claimed to be." He looked down at her in disgust.

"Psh, she's a witch! She bewitched you!" Marlin yelled.

"And that 'brother' of yours, his eyes were so unnatural, he was no doubt under a spell to do your bidding!" Lanin added.

Alys couldn't help but laugh. They thought her to be the magical one and Selendrile was just some poor human she had cast under a spell. _Fools__._

"Shut up, witch! Summon your dragon or face your death!"

She laughed again. "I can't summon him. He doesn't belong to me." _Truer words have never been spoken._

"Well you better hope he comes to find you before the days end." Lanin threatened.

"I plan to flay something fey tonight. I don't care if it's a dragon or a witch." The red haired man Marlin sneered with a wicked smile.

_Why do people always think I'm a witch?_ Alys grew angry at their threats. "You fools are no match for a dragon!"

"We will see about that." Marlin smiled holding up an iron chain rope and iron sword. Lanin held up his bow and an arrow that also looked to be made of iron. Marlin's father's knowledge of dragons finally came to good use for him.

Alys sneered back at them, enraged that she had ever trusted Lanin. _I guess it is a good thing Selendrile is gone then. _She regretted that the last thing that she said to him was so horrible, but at least he was safe. She would never get the chance to tell him that she was sorry.

She sat tied to a tree for hours on end, waiting for a dragon that she knew would never come. As night grew closer, her captors became restless and agitated.

"Where is the beast?!"

"Told you he wouldn't come," Alys mumbled annoyed.

"Maybe it thinks we are bluffing. I think we need to send a stronger message. Let's tie her to the stake and burn her! If it doesn't show up to save her, then we've at least solved our witch problem." Lanin suggested.

Marlin thought about this for a moment. "I suppose you are right, though I had looked forward to flaying the wretch alive."

Lanin came over to untie her from the tree and move her to a tall dead stump that they had decided to use as a makeshift stake. Marlin gleefully stacked dead branches and leaves around it. Alys decided this would be her last chance to escape. As soon as Lanin had untied her, she sent him a swift kick to the groin. _Serves you right._ She took off into the woods as he doubled over in pain.

She ran as fast as she could, jumping over some small bushes and into the darkening forest. The forest was dark with shadows and she was in an area that she was unfamiliar with. She stumbled over roots and rocks and finally took a spill after her foot fell into a mole hole.

"Wench!" Marlin growled, out of breath himself from the chase. He gave her a hard kick to the stomach. She sat on her hands and knees wheezing in pain. Pulling her up to her feet by a large tuft of her hair, he dragged her back to the clearing.

Lanin and Marlin tied her unnecessarily tight to the stake. She could feel her wrists blistering against the rope as she struggled in vain. Something attached to Marlin's belt caught Alys' eye while he tied the ropes. The top of a knife or dagger peeked out of its sheath and she saw the image of a sun. She gasped. _Could Marlin have the dagger we were looking for?! _Her curiosity burned and her hand struggled against the ropes to grab the dagger from him to see if the other side had a moon. An evil grin, showing his yellow stained teeth, reached across his gritty face as he saw her attempt a reach for his belt. She dropped her hand, averted her eyes and shivered disgusted.

The men started a small fire and were debating whether to have it burn slowly to give the dragon more time to reach her or let it quickly engulf her in flames.

She sighed to herself. _Idiots. _She can't believe she ever thought Lanin to be an intelligent and handsome man. They decided to wait a little longer for the dragon to come and let the fire slowly roast her.

_I guess this is the end of me. How do I always end up at the stake? Selendrile won't come to save me this time._

She began to think about her death and was surprisingly comfortable with the idea. No one wanted or needed her. Silently she prayed that if there was an after life that she would be reunited with her father, mother and Risa. She felt a sting of pain in her heart when she realized that even in the after life she will not likely see Selendrile again, or at least not for hundreds of years if dragons go to the same afterlife as humans. Dying with regret seemed like an awful fate and she wished she had a chance to apologize to Selendrile. Even if she wasn't about to die, she wished she had had a chance to tell him goodbye the way he deserved. Once, she had imagined what she would say if and when they ever parted ways. She wanted to be sure to thank him for taking her and showing her things she would have never seen otherwise, for protecting and providing for her, and to tell him that she wished him a long lifetime of happiness. She might have told him she loved him, but only if she could manage to get the words out.

"Goodbye Selendrile. Thank you and I'm sorry. I love you," she spoke softly to herself and waited for the flames to come.

Selendrile transformed to his dragon form and bellowed in anguish as he took to the sky. He flew fast towards the sun, wishing for it to swallow him up. Taking a moment to calm himself and think, he decided he needed to go to Lythe before the sun made it impossible for him to go to town. Using his strong dragon sense of smell, he found the shop owner Lanin and told him a story and where to collect Alys. Gritting his teeth, he barely got the words out to the flustered man. Lanin only gave a nod before Selendrile turned away, transforming into a dragon as soon as he was able and not a moment too soon as the sun was about to reach over the horizon.

Flying, he didn't think for awhile, instead concentrating on escaping his existence. The sky was clear, bright; it would be a beautiful day. He wished for had called him a monster. His nightmare had come true, Alys hated him and he had left her.

He felt a heaviness in his chest.

_I'm a dragon. She's human. She_**_ should _**_hate me. I asked her to stay with me without even considering how our time together would end. _

Selendrile thought sorely about how he had always known that one day she'd leave him. She'd fall in love with a human or maybe she'd become ill and die. Even if she lived a long life, she'd still die hundreds of years before him. He knew this day would come, though now he knows that he was never going to be ready. His chest began to ache.

He groaned with frustration, wishing he had found that damned dagger or had never heard about it at all. Maybe the witch had lied to him and there really was no dagger, he thought. Being so eager to find a way to stay with Alys, to not be alone, he had taken the witch at her at her word. Very un-dragon-like of him. Trying to comfort himself, he tried to reassure that he did the right thing by leaving her now. It would only get harder if they had stayed another day together, that was made clear from last night.

_I can't be the one for her now, but at least I know she is safe. Lythe is a prosperous town and despite the awful incident at the inn, it is safe as far as large towns go. She has Lanin now. He is a strong and capable man who makes a good living at his shop. He will protect her and care for. They can settle down and live a normal, happy life together._

He began to imagine Alys laughing and cuddling with Lanin. Welcoming him home with a kiss. Her glowing and round, pregnant with their first child. His chest ached more, like a dagger twisting in his heart.

Despite the pain, Selendrile continued to think about Alys with Lanin. She would be happy with him, but he wouldn't really know how wonderful she really was. Lanin wouldn't know about her dangerous and difficult past. He would never know just how brave and compassionate she really was. Lanin didn't know that she had nightmares and that the best way to prevent them was to stroke her hair softly while she slept. He wouldn't notice the differences in her smiles - the kind ones that are just for show versus the ones that made her face shine like the sun. Lanin wouldn't appreciate the way a blush crosses her cheeks like a rose starting to bloom. He would never notice the strands of gold that glowed in her brown hair or the thousands of variations of hazel in her eyes and how her thick eyelashes rested on her cheeks when they were closed. Lanin didn't daydream about her soft lips. For him, a kiss would be just a kiss, not the climax of his existence.

Selendrile felt himself turning around. He needed her. Even if she no longer wanted him, he knew he had to tell her he loved her, that he was hers. He would find the dagger, even if he had to burn down the whole town. Dragons are selfish creatures and he wanted to keep her with him, even if he could only have her for a few short years. He flew as fast as his wings could carry him back to Alys, she was calling to him like a beacon in the night.

The sun had began it's journey down below the horizon behind him as the town of Lythe came into view. He was distracted by small billows of smoke in the forest outside of town. As he got closer, he noticed an open clearing with a large pile of wood near its center, recently lit no doubt, with a familiar shape standing in the middle. His amethyst eyes widened in horror. _That's Alys! _He noticed two men standing at the edge of the freshly started flames, recognizing both the red headed man and Lanin immediately. He knew the vile red headed man was doing this for revenge, but Selendrile had trusted Lanin with Alys' life, he could feel the fire rage in his belly.

As he started his descent, he let out a blood curtailing roar. Selendrile's eyes stayed locked on Alys and heavy concern burdened him when she didn't not look up to return his gaze. _Was I too late this time?_

Seconds later Alys looked up at him, relief swept over him instantly. Her eyes widened and she screamed, "Selendrile, NO!" Just then he felt a sharp pain in his back and then another one in his wing. His energy slowly draining from his body at the points of impact, he began falling towards the earth.


	10. Chapter 10

Selendrile was falling towards the clearing, struggling to keep control. Glancing back, he noticed two arrows sticking in his back and wing, no doubt in his mind that they were iron tipped. With a little effort, he twisted his collapsing body toward Alys at the stake, lifting himself slightly to miss her head but break the stake she was tied to. Alys made a barely audible shriek as his tail whipped past her face. With a thunderous thud, his dragon body crashed against the hard ground.

Marlin and Lanin ran over to the fallen dragon, ready to attack. Alys let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't just been beheaded and could feel the stump behind her was just barely reaching above her tied back hands. The men were distracted with the dragon behind her, she lifted herself up to her tiptoes and pulled her hands up from her back against the broken stake. Her elbows strained and with a little hop, she managed to get her tied hands over the what was left of the stake. She stumbled forward into the sizzling stacked branches around her, struggling to get up without the use of her hands. Once up and stabilized, she searched for the men and dragon, seeing them just in front of the treeline.

Selendrile had cornered himself against a tight bunch of trees, making an escape nearly impossible but his backside was protected from attack. The wounds in his back and wing were pulsing with pain and he could feel himself slowing with every manuever he did to avoid a blow. Alys watched in horror as Lanin shot another arrow, hitting Selendrile's dragon body in his shoulder. Selendrile faltered and Marlin was about to take the opportunity to use his iron sword to stab him through the chest. Alys could never run to stop Marlin in time, but her voice could. She looked up at the darkened sky just as the last sliver of the sun shrunk down. They wanted his scales, she thought to herself before taking action.

"They want your scales! Change!" She screamed. Another moment later, the dragon was gone and a naked and bleeding Selendrile stood in its place. Selendrile fell to his knees and elbows, weak and in pain. Lanin raised his bow to finish him, but Marlin threw up his arm to stop him.

"He's no use to us in human form!" Marlin barked at Lanin before turning to Alys. She was relieved that her idea had worked and that Selendrile was no longer the center of their attack, though their attentions were now turned to her. "Change him back, witch!" Marlin screamed, charging her.

Alys stumbled back, falling onto her butt, terrified as he came at her with his sword drawn. He didn't attack her with the sword though, instead he chose his fist. She sprawled back into the dirt from his first blow and then curled into a ball as he continued his attack. Marlin kicked and punched at her stomach, back, and head, demanding all the while that she change Selendrile back to dragon form.

Between her cries, she managed to open an eye to see Lanin with his back to her, his arrow still pointed at Selendrile. Her vision was becoming fuzzy, but she could make out Selendrile still slumped over on his knees. Selendrile lifted his head to look at her, she saw the pain and effort it took just to make that small movement. His eyes locked on her, wide with agony and fear, he gritted his teeth and tried to lift himself to come to her rescue. Lanin, with his bow still raised, he used his foot to push him back down. Selendrile groaned as he fell back to ground.

Marlin lifted Alys up from the dirt by the front of her dress and then wrapped his hand around her neck. With her hands still tied behind her back, she was unable to try and pull at his grip, causing her to cough and gasp for air. Marlin pointed the tip of his sword into Alys' side, "Change him back now or I will cut you where you stand, witch!" Alys couldn't respond even if she wanted to and was beginning to feel like she was going to black out from the lack of air.

"Stop!" Selendrile growled, a faint whisper compared to his usual booming voice. "She can't change me."

Marlin dropped Alys, she took in a huge breath of air before trying to scramble to her feet. She was woozy and unstable, but able to stand and hear Selendrile's words.

"I have to change back to a dragon by dawn or I'll die." Selendrile repeated with more explanation. "If I don't change back by dawn, I will still become a dragon, but I'll be dead."

"Are we suppose to expect you to just give up and die, dragon?!" Lanin growled angrily.

Selendrile struggled with his words through the pain. "Yes, just let her go. I promise to die at dawn, leaving you with a dead dragon." Selendrile hoped by waiting until dawn to die, he could keep the men preoccupied enough in keeping him prisoner to allow a free Alys to get far, far away.

Alys eye's widen in horror, "Selendrile, no!" He was going to die to save her and that was the last thing she wanted. "I'm a witch! He won't change at dawn! He's lying, dragons always lie! Only I can change him back!" She was practically screaming the words, her eyes begging Selendrile to run and live.

"Shut up!" Marlin bellowed annoyed. "Let's tie them both up to a tree, use the iron chain on the dragon boy. We will see who is telling us the truth."

"No!" Selendrile roared with his jaw clenched. "Let her go or I won't cooperate."

Marlin turned his sword back to a defenseless Alys. "You'll cooperate dragon. Go sit against that tree and wait to be tied up, or I'll kill your witch now." Alys had begun to wish she had run when Selendrile had given her the chance. Though she would have come back to save him before dawn. At least this way he wasn't going to suffer alone._ I'm sure that so comforting..._she thought sarcastically to herself.

Selendrile hung his head and crawled over to a tree and waited. Lanin wrapped heavy iron chains around the tree and across Selendrile's body. Alys could hear the metal sear against his skin, she winced, knowing the torture he was enduring. Lanin threw a cloth at Selendrile to cover his nakedness. Alys imagined Selendrile would have rolled his eyes if he had the energy to, but instead his head was bowed and his eyes were closed.

Marlin threw Alys against the opposite side of the tree from Selendrile, but used simple rope to bind her to the tree and not an iron chain. Alys' body was bruised and beaten and her wrists red from the ropes, but Selendrile was in far worse condition. Lanin had yanked his arrows from Selendrile's slumped over body, triggering agonized wheezes, the wounds were dripping blood and trailing crimson against pale gold skin. The iron chain was pulled tightly against his chest and a smaller chain bound his hands together in front of him, the iron was burning and blistering his flesh. Alys had flashbacks to the day of Atherton's death, remembering Selendrile's suffering then. She knew in his current condition, there was a chance he might not even make it to dawn.

Lanin and Marlin discussed their new plan several feet away, closer to the small fire that had finally formed around the stake. Knowing that they had some privacy, Alys tried to scoot against the rope to move her tired body closer to Selendrile's. Her hands were bound behind her and his in front of him, she wished she could hold his hand to silently let him know she was there, though she knew it was physically impossible.

"Selendrile?" she whispered concerned. He didn't answer. She gulped, "Selendrile, don't worry, I'm going to get us out of this." His only response was tilting his bowed head in her direction. Wishing she could say more, she turned to rest her head against the tree, her throat was tight with emotion. Now could be the best time to tell him everything she had wanted to tell him when she thought she was going to burn at the stake, but decided she didn't want to act like this was the end.

Assessing the ropes, Alys decided that with a little wiggling, she could slip underneath them. She had to stop her efforts twice when Lanin and Marlin looked over towards their prisoners, but the second time she gave them her best evil eye and they turned their backs to her, probably thinking she was trying to hex them. Selendrile weakly lifted his head every now and again to watch her struggling, but his head would fall forward weakly after only a few seconds. Dawn was fast approaching, she could tell by the color of the lightening sky. Alys knew she had less than an hour, her panic over the coming dawn felt very familiar.

Wiggling herself one last time, she managed to get the ropes to her shoulders. She used her teeth to pull them up and over as she quickly ducked her head. Letting out a quiet sigh, she rested back against the tree, she was exhausted and sore, but free. Sitting on top of her hands, she pushed herself back and her bound hands were no longer behind her but instead stuck between her butt and knees, making standing now impossible. _A lot of good this will do me... _She could swear she heard Selendrile snort at her. Pulling knees almost up to her face, she reached her arms out as far as she could and managed to slip her bound hands past her ankles and toes. Her hands now sat tied in front of her, she mentally she gave herself a pat on the back for managing to be so flexible.

Lanin and Marlin were now sitting around the fire, their backs turned, no doubt struggling to keep themselves from nodding off. Alys slowly stood and tiptoed to kneel in front of Selendrile. She reached for the chains around his chest, his hands rose to grab hers before she was able to touch them. Lifting his head to meet her gaze, his eyes softened and he whispered with his voice hoarse. "Go."

Alys knew he was telling her to run, to save herself and leave him to die, alone. She planted a quick kiss on his lips, just like she had done before, "I won't abandon you." Turning back to the chains, she began to untie the knots, trying not to pull them any tighter against him. The chains around his chest loosened and Selendrile gave a heavy audible sigh, his body noticeably relaxing some. Alys slipped the chains over him, he slumped further forward as she knelt back down to work on the chains around his wrists. As she worked, her eyes took in the blistered strips of skin on his chest and three wounds now covered in dried blood. Selendrile groaned as she pulled part of the knot out of the chain, tears came to her eyes, she couldn't stand to see him in anymore pain, she wasn't sure he could survive more.

"I'm almost done Selendrile. Please hold on." The chained was hung up on itself and she needed to give it a tug to try and free it. Selendrile moaned as she tugged and fell to his side. "Selendrile!" Alys yelled alarmed, forgetting that Marlin and Lanin were only feet away.

They spun around, jumping from their seats, running towards her and Selendrile with their weapons drawn. "Witch!"

Standing with her feet planted, she stood to protect weakened Selendrile the best she could. She took a last second glance back to Selendrile, he was struggling to pull himself up, but to her relief, he was breathing and moving. He would need to change soon. She just needed to give him enough time to get the strength to pull off what was left of the loose iron chain from his wrist and change, she reminded herself.

Lanin was first to reach her, she used her tied hands to knock into him. He tumbled to the ground and Alys followed up her attack with a kick, leaving him rolling on the floor. While she was surprised by her own strength, she didn't think Lanin had gave his attack on her his full effort. Whether that was because of lingering feelings he still had for her or from his exhaustion for being up all night, she didn't know.

Marlin reached her before she had a chance to turn and defend herself, the dagger she had longed to see before was no longer on his belt but pressed into her stomach. She sucked in a breath, feeling the dagger's blade rip further into her flesh and muscles. Looking down at the hilt of the dagger now protruding from her stomach's side, she couldn't help but manage a small smile, there WAS a moon on the other side. _Figures._ Falling hard to the ground, she coughed blood and rolled to her side.

His blurry eyes locked on the dagger in Alys' side, blood slowly soaking the area of her dress. His weakened body surged with rage, he tugged the loosened chain from his wrist with a terrifying rumble. Free from the iron, he stumbled to his feet and made a leap towards Marlin. Marlin was able to easily avoid his slow attack, knocking Selendrile back to the ground next to Alys. As he got to his hands and knees, trying to get the strength to fight again, Alys reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. Managing to give him a weak smile, she mouthed the words "Change." Selendrile got to his feet, took two painful steps towards Marlin and then transformed into an angry golden dragon.

The pain in her side had become too much for her fragile body and the loss of blood made her dizzy. She closed her eyes as she saw the sun peak above the horizon.


	11. Chapter 11

Unsure of what was real or a dream, Alys' mind struggled to hold onto every fleeting moment. She remembered the sun, a roaring fire, screaming, sharp pain, more screaming, the moon, and then darkness. Her eyes fluttered open and slowly focused on a small fire. Lying on a soft bed of leaves under a wool blanket, she noted she was still in the woods, though not in the clearing. Releaved to be alive, she tried to lift herself to look for Selendrile. Pain shot through her body and she fell onto her back into a coughing fit, blood splattering the ground next to her.

"Don't move."

Alys tilted her head back to see Selendrile sitting cross legged in only trousers next to her head. Her heart smiled, he was alive! Looking over his body in the firelight, she took in his wounds, which had healed already to only nasty cuts, though the dried blood still surrounded them. Sighing to herself, she was disappointed she had missed yet another day, but at least Selendrile had come back. It dawned on her that she needed to tell him how sorry she was, but she didn't have the energy to start that conversation now, she just prayed he stuck around long enough.

"What happened?" The dry sound of her own voice surprised her.

"You passed out. I set Marlin on fire and tied up Lanin. I flew us as far away as I could manage. Not very far, I was weak and you are in no condition to travel." His voice was calm and calculating, like he was discussing things he does on any regular day. Even though he came back and saved her life, she became concerned that he was still upset with her.

"Marlin's dead then? ...and Lanin?" Alys felt a little guilty about Marlin's death, much like she had felt after Atherton's, but in the back of her mind she knew he deserved it.

"I didn't kill Lanin...in case you loved him." He practically hissed the words. She wanted to laugh, but she knew her body would only revolt against her. Instead, she managed a smile.

"No, I don't love him. I never did or could, I'm happy you didn't kill him though." Lanin wasn't such a bad guy, even though he did try to kill them. She had lied to him from the start and he was probably confused and angry after finding out the girl he liked was involved with a dragon. Not to mention, Lanin had said he saw her and Selendrile together at Hallowmas. That probably didn't help his image of her. Lanin would be fine and in the end he had an interesting story to tell the town.

Selendrile began to softly caress her head, his fingers stroking her long hair. Feeling so weak, she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them to stare up towards the stars. She tiredly lifted her hand to her face and noted how pale her skin looked. Gliding her hand down to her stomach she let out a painful gasp when she felt the hilt of the dagger still in her stomach. The area was numb, she had no idea that Selendrile hadn't removed it.

"Don't touch it!" Selendrile commanded, sounding alarmed. "You can't pull it out until we get you to a healer. I don't think I can carry you again without making you worse. Now that you're awake, I will go to town to find someone to come back here. It shouldn't be too far."

Alys knew some of his words were true. Pulling the dagger out or moving her would only cause her to lose more blood, which her body couldn't afford. He had already been to town though, she guessed, unless he was able to magically conjure up pants and a wool blanket. Likely, no one must have wanted to or was able to help her, she's probably worse off than he was letting on. Delicately, she felt the dagger's hilt, tracing the engravings of the sun and moon with her fingers, reminding herself that she had 'found' THE dagger. She gave Selendrile a startled look.

He cupped her head in his hands and leaned over her, "You're going to be alright Alys."

He was lying. While his voice was steady, his eyes told her that the wound and blood loss wasn't something she was likely to survive. With nothing to lose, she reached both hands around the hilt of the dagger and pulled it from her middle. Agonizing pain waved through her, like she had been stabbed all over again.

"Alys!" Selendrile hollered, his hands leaving her head to put pressure on her bleeding wound. "What are you doing?!"

Alys let out another bloody cough and then weakly lifted the dagger for Selendrile to see. "It's the dagger. It has a moon and sun on the hilt." Selendrile's eyes widened but he never let up the pressure he held on Alys' stomach. "Marlin had it. Will you tell me why you want it now? Don't lie." She winced but managed a smirk.

Selendrile sighed. "It can turn me human, Alys. When we couldn't find the dagger, I decided it would be better for you if I was out of your life. I'm yours though Alys and I want to be human for you."

Tears were falling from Alys' eyes, washing away dirt and blotches of dried blood that speckled her face. He was willing to become human to stay with her. It was unimaginable to her that he would give up his existance as a dragon to live the pathetic life of a human, just to be with her. As painful as it was, she couldn't stop herself from letting out a laugh at the irony. He had found a way to become human to stay with her and now she was dying because of the same dagger that would have changed him. This miserable life was not for Selendrile, even if she was healthy. With all the energy she could summon, she chucked the dagger into the fire.

Selendrile eyes looked wide and wild at the flames and then back at Alys. She tried to explain, "You're no human Selendrile. You're a dragon. I would never want you to be anything else."

"Alys..." was all he could whisper.

"Doesn't matter now anyway," she coughed with a chuckle, "I'll be dead soon."

"No." Selendrile said it conscively, as if by saying it, it was true. "I will go get someone to help you and I -" Seeing the terror in Alys' eyes, he stopped. She didn't want to die alone, without him, her eyes were begging him to stay. "Alys..." he closed his eyes tight, "I can't just sit here and watch you die."

"Please, don't leave." Her voice was weak and fading.

Kneeling down to carefully pick her up, he pulled her fragile body to his chest. "I won't leave you. I'll take you with me to find help. Hold on." Ignoring her small cries, he ran for town (for a second time) as fast as his human legs could carry him, doing his best to not shake her body too much.

The steady rhythym of Selendrile's rapid beating heart made it difficult for Alys to stay awake. Anytime her eyes began to shut and her body relaxed Selendrile would gently juggle her and beg for her to stay awake. Surprised by his begging, Alys tried harder to keep herself from falling asleep, for possibly forever. Selendrile suddenly came to a quick stop, his body jumping slightly, making Alys' wince. Turning her head to see why they had stopped, Alys was surprised to see the witch.

"Oh dear," the witch started, "things have not gone well for you, have they my dears." Her voice was full of sorrow, but there was no sense of surprise.

"Help her," Selendrile begged. Desperation dripped from his words.

"Dragon, I'm unable to. I don't think anyone would be able to at this point." The witch's voice was soft, as if she was explaining something to a child. "If only you had found the dagger..."

"We did, but good would that do for her? She's already human!" He snapped at her. Dragons deal better with anger than grief.

"You found it? You're still a dragon." She said confused.

Alys had been listening to the conversation and decided now was the time for her to pipe up. "I burned it," was all she managed to say.

The witch laughed, "You are a stubborn one! No matter, you don't need the dagger, just the moon and sun from it's hilt. They shouldn't have been destroyed in the fire."

Alys coughed violently against Selendrile's chest. He tightened his grip around her. "Will it turn her into a dragon?" Selendrile asked with an impossible expression on his face.

"No, the magic was never meant to turn humans into fey. There isn't time to explain, it will heal her though. If she lives, meet me at the cabin near where we first met. Now go! It can't save her if she's already dead!" The witch's voice became urgent as she searched Alys' glossed over eyes.

Selendrile had turned to run back towards the camp before the witch even finished her words. No longer trying to soften his steps, Alys flinched with every movement. When he reached the camp, he slowly lowered Alys' battered body to the bed of leaves, praying that it wouldn't become her death bed.

The fire was still flickering, but he used his hands to push the flaming pieces of wood aside, letting his tough skin burn while his eyes searched for anything that looked like a moon or sun. He came across the sun first, it looked like a small ivory marble with an image of the sun carved into it. Without a second thought, he swallowed the marble like the witch instructed, it burned even his specially lined fire-resistant throat. Thumbing around desperately, he came across another shape that was round like a marble. Brushing off the ashes, his heart skipped when he saw the engraved crescent moon. It was far too hot for Alys to swallow, he blew on it to cool it while running back over to Alys.

Cradling her upper body, he lifted her to feed her the marble, but hesitated because it was still too hot. Alys couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, but her chest was rising and falling with what looked like monumentous effort.

Alys remembered all the things she wanted to tell him. She needed to tell him she was sorry and thank you, but her body was too weak to say all that she wanted to. Instead, she thought telling him how she felt would suffice. "I love you." The words came out feeble and barely recognizable, much to Alys' dismay. Trying to show the passion that her final words lacked, she held out her had up to touch his cheek, but was unable to reach. Selendrile brought his scorched hand to hers and his face down close enough for her hand to reach it with little effort.

Alys' skin glistened with sweat and her lips were pale, with a small sweet smile she dropped her hand and closed her marble was still hot against Selendrile's hand, but he no longer cared if it burned her if it could save her. He pushed her head back and used his fingers to part her lips, slipping the marble in and forcing it to slid down her throat. When she didn't react to the heat of the marble gliding down her throat, Selendrile's heart sank. Pressing his ear to her chest, he heard nothing. His amethyst eyes widen in terror, he shook her slightly and begged her to open her eyes, "Alys. Alys, wake up! Wake up!"

Alys didn't respond, her body was cold and limp. Selendrile released a hand from under her to run it through his hair. Trembling and unsure of what else to do, he hugged Alys' body and swayed. He wanted to be angry, he knew how to deal with anger, but he had no outlet and couldn't build the energy to scream. Instead, he was in utter despair. For the first time, he was too late to save her.

Selendrile saw the sky fading to a soft pink, dawn was coming soon, but he gave it no mind. Leaning down he gave her a soft kiss on her pale lips, hugged her close and waited for the end. Only, the end never came. He lifted his head to see the sun coming above the trees, he comfirmed he was still in human form and that he wasn't dead. After a moment of disbelief, he thought back to the sun marble he had swallowed and concluded that was the reason for his lack of death and transformation. He groaned to himself, the one time he wanted dawn to come and finish him, it didn't.

A poke at his chest startled him and he looked back down, astonished to see Alys' hazel eyes staring back at him, equally amazed.

"The sun's up. You're not a dragon." She stated confused, her voice still hoarse.

"You're not dead." He beamed at her.

She looked down at herself and then looked back up to him. "Looks to be that way," she grinned.

With the frousity of a dragon, he crushed his lips to hers in reply. Once they seperated, Alys flinched, still a little sore. Selendrile's gave her an apologetic look and a quick, "Sorry." He held her in his arms and they sat for a while, letting their eyes take in one another, appreciating that they were both alive another day. Finally, Alys decided she needed to talk to him, starting with a thank you.

"Thank you for saving me, again."

"You saved me too," Selendrile pointed out.

"Only after you saved me. You saved me twice." Alys looked down at the blood on her dress. The wound had healed rapidly, leaving only a small scar. Selendrile's eyes followed hers and his fingers lightly traced over her the scar through the hole in her dress, his ameythst going dark. Alys continued, "Why did you come back?"

Selendrile raised his eyebrows, surprised by her question. He sighed, unsure of where to start and how much he should say. "Like I told you, you should live a normal human life, without me. That's why, I said things...I didn't mean. I didn't want to hurt you but I needed to, because you need to leave me. My selfishness got the best of me though and I came I back because I needed to let you know I would change for you, if I could."

Alys gave him a warm smile and touched his cheek like she had wanted to before. "I never wanted you to change Selendrile, though I will admit, it would make this easier."

Looking into her eyes, Selendrile finished what he felt compelled to tell her. "Before I met you, I had never felt alone and now... I can't live without you."

Giving him a peck on the lips she replied, "Well for now, you won't have to."

Once Alys felt like she the energy to move, they began to walk to the cabin in the woods near where they first met the witch. Alys had never seen Selendrile in human form in the sunshine before. Every part of him was even more beautiful in the warm sunlight than it even had been in the moon or firelight. She was glad he didn't become human, he was too lovely to be anything but fey. As they walked, Selendrile caught Alys staring at him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head without missing a step. Blushing but enjoying the newly affectionate Selendrile, she almost hesitated to start asking questions.

"So you can be human during the day now?"

"Looks like it," Selendrile said with a shrug.

They continued walking, "What else changed?"

"You're alive, for one," Selendrile pulled her tighter into his side.

Alys rolled her eyes at him, "But what ELSE has changed? I'm healed and you're human during the day...Can you still change into a dragon?" Alys gave him a concerned look.

Selendrile was far less concerned, being human wouldn't be so bad, with Alys by his side. He shrugged his shoulders again and gave a devious grin, "Well, let's see."

Next thing Alys knew, Selendrile was feet away from her transforming into his magnifigant golden dragon form. He stood before her, waiting for her to react, to see if she was actually disappointed he wasn't human. Slowly, she walked over to his lowered head and stroked the side of his face, "Well, that answers that. Let's fly to the cabin, I want to talk to that witch." The dragon nodded in response and helped prop her up onto his back.

Flying was one of Alys' favorite things and she was even more thankful Selendrile was still a dragon. If she would have missed flying, she couldn't imagine how much Selendrile would have missed it. Her mind wandered back to all that had happened and how different things would be now, though she didn't know how different. Remembering the witch's words, Alys knew she wasn't fey, maybe all the moon marble had done for her was save her life. Of course, she was glad it saved and healed her and also gave Selendrile the ability to be human during the day, but she still hoped for more. More of what? She didn't know, but she hoped the witch would be there to give them answers.

They flew for most of the day and Selendrile landed by the lake that was near the cabin. Hoping down from his back, Alys shot Selendrile a look and then took off towards the water. She looked down at the water's edge at her reflection, expecting to see something different, she was slightly disappointed to see her regular self staring back. Using the cold water, she scrubbed at the dried blood and dirt that subbornly latched to her skin. She sat back into the cold grass when she had finished and let the sun soak into her freshly cleaned skin. Selendrile came from behind her and placed the wool blanket over her shoulders, he had changed to human form and donned his breeches. Alys was still not used to seeing him human in the sunlight, she watched him carefully as he went to the lake to clean his own skin. His beautiful smooth skin was even more golden in the sunlight and it played off the rippling muscules of his back. Feeling eyes on him, Selendrile turned to look at Alys, who immediately blushed for being caught staring at him yet again.

"You look different in the sun," she muttered. "I like it." Her blushed deepened.

Selendrile gave her a devious smirk and came to kneel down over her. Feeling his warm breath on her face, she lifted her face to meet his, leaving a gentle kiss on his lips. Much to Alys' dismay, he pulled away and stood up, holding out his hand for her.

"We need to go see the witch. I want answers before we..." Selendrile took a long glance over Alys' body and gave another devious smirk, but he didn't finish his sentence.

Alys took his hand and gave him a smile in return, "Let's go see the witch then." They made their way to cabin, hands laced together. The witch was waiting for them on the path, a few hundred feet from the cabin. She was laughing gleefully when she saw them.

"You made it!" She chuckled. "I'm glad to see you both are well. I'm assuming you have some questions for me."

Before Alys or Selendrile could speak a word, she continued. "There really isn't too much more to tell than what you likely already figured out. Dragon, you are now able to be human whenever you so chose. And my dear girl..." She paused and gave Alys a motherly smile. "You've been healed, as I'm sure you already know."

"Is she still human?" Selendrile interjected.

"Yes, she is very much still the fragile human she has always been. Like I told you before, the magic wasn't meant to turn humans into fey. She has changed though." The witch continued to explain, "Your lives are tied together, she is still fragile and weak, but if she stays in good health, her life will continue long beyond that of a normal human."

"What do you mean?" Selendrile asked confused but the excitement could easily be detected in his voice.

The witch was becoming annoyed with his interruptions, but continued. "She will age at the same rate as you age, dragon. Her life will last the same hundreds upon hundreds of years as yours."

Alys gasped. She would live to be hundreds of years old, if she managed to stay well that is. Selendrile squeezed her hand and began to drag her towards the cabin. The witch only chuckled as they rudely walked past her, taking a guess as to why Selendrile was so eager to get Alys alone in the cabin. Not catching onto this, Alys turned back, confused. She pulled her hand away from Seledrile's and turned back to the witch, leaving him standing a few feet away waiting for her. "Thank you for all that you've done for us but...how did you come to know all this and why did you helped us?" Witches were not known for their kindness, not unless they wanted something.

The witch continued to chuckle, "I've been in a similar situation. I wasn't as brave as your dragon though." The witch's eyes glistened and Alys saw a sparkle she had not seen before.

The witch may have not been a witch after all. Alys imagined her as a young, beautiful faerie in love with a human man. By her words, she hadn't used the dagger to change either, though she probably didn't have it in her to destroy it like Alys had. Sympathy began to pinch at Alys' eyes, but she fought it back, not wanting to upset or insult the faerie witch. "Thank you," was all Alys said with a large smile, before turning back to walk to the cabin with Selendrile.

Once they were inside the cabin, Alys turned to talk to Selendrile about her new extended lifespan but before she had a chance to open her mouth, he had himself pressed against her lips, his hands around her waist. The kiss was heavy with devotion and Alys had a hard time standing. Leaving them both breathless, he rested his head against her collarbone and let out a sigh. "I'm yours Alys and now you're mine."

Wrapping her arms around his back she pulled him closer to her. "Yes, you're stuck with me for a long time it would seem," she teased. "What are we going to do with all that time together?"

Selendrile lifted his head to give her a smirk. Leaning close to her ear he whispered seductively, "I have some ideas."

Alys giggled before their lips met again, starting the beginning of a very long life together.

* * *

A/N: THE END.

I'm a sucker for happy endings...the other option is Alys died and Selendrile is alone and we can't have that! Either way, hope you enjoyed my first fanfic. I feel like it got better as it went on, the first couple of chapters make me cringe and will probably get a rewrite at some point. I already have an idea for a new fanfic so I might work on that...maybe. Can't get enough Selendrile. Yum.

Review please! Thanks for reading!


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